Supreme Court sets aside a Bengaluru land acquisition for a housing society, holding it was vitiated by fraud

26 October 2026

In N. Arasappa v. State of Karnataka, decided on 26 October, the Supreme Court set aside a land acquisition in Bengaluru made for a cooperative house building society, holding it was vitiated by fraud, bribery and the absence of an approved housing scheme or layout plan. The bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran also set aside the Karnataka High Court Division Bench decision that had upheld the acquisition. The land was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, with the Section 4 notification issued in 1988 and the Section 6 declaration in 1989. The Court directed that possession be restored to the landowners whether or not they had challenged the acquisition, required them to refund any compensation received without interest, and raised costs to Rs 50,000 for each petitioner.