Section 74 of Land Acquisition Act 2013: Appeal to High Court

Section 74 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 provides a statutory appeal to the High Court against an award passed by the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority under Section 69.

Who may appeal?The Requiring Body or any person aggrieved by the Authority's award.
Appealable awardAn award passed by the Authority under Section 69.
Statutory periodSixty days from the date of the award.
High CourtThe High Court having jurisdiction over the land acquired or proposed to be acquired.

What Section 74 provides

Section 74 creates the appellate remedy against an award made by the Authority under Section 69. The provision identifies the persons entitled to appeal, prescribes the statutory filing period, provides for delayed filing on sufficient cause, and directs expeditious disposal by the High Court.

Section 74 - Appeal to High Court

Sub-section (1): The Requiring Body or any person aggrieved by an award passed by the Authority under Section 69 may appeal to the High Court within sixty days from the date of the award.

The proviso empowers the High Court, where sufficient cause prevented filing within that period, to permit filing within a further period not exceeding sixty days.

Sub-section (2): An appeal under sub-section (1) is to be heard as expeditiously as possible, with an endeavour to dispose of it within six months from the date it is presented to the High Court.

Explanation: For Section 74, the relevant High Court is the High Court within whose jurisdiction the acquired or proposed-to-be-acquired land is situated.

The paragraph above is a concise explanation of the statutory provision. For authoritative text, consult the official India Code source linked below.

Meaning of important terms

Requiring Body

The expression "Requiring Body" is defined by the 2013 Act and broadly refers to a company, body corporate, institution or other organisation for whom land is being acquired by the appropriate Government, subject to the statutory definition and context of the Act.

Authority and award under Section 69

The "Authority" is the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority constituted under the Act. Section 69 governs determination of an award by that Authority after a reference. Section 74 supplies the appellate remedy against such an award.

Person aggrieved

Section 74 does not confine the appeal to landowners alone. Its language permits the Requiring Body or any person aggrieved by the award under Section 69 to invoke the statutory appellate remedy, subject to the requirements of the Act.

Limitation for an appeal under Section 74

The text of Section 74(1) prescribes sixty days from the date of the award and expressly permits the High Court, on sufficient cause, to allow filing within a further period not exceeding sixty days.

Current Supreme Court position: In The Deputy Commissioner and Special Land Acquisition Officer v. M/s S V Global Mill Limited, decided on 9 February 2026, the Supreme Court held that Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 applies to first appeals before High Courts under Section 74 of the 2013 Act. Accordingly, the statutory proviso should be read together with this binding interpretation when considering condonation of delay.

Which High Court has jurisdiction?

The Explanation to Section 74 uses the location of the land as the jurisdictional test. The appeal lies before the High Court within whose territorial jurisdiction the land acquired or proposed to be acquired is situated.

Six-month disposal objective

Section 74(2) requires appeals to be heard as expeditiously as possible and states that an endeavour should be made to dispose of the appeal within six months from its presentation. The provision therefore places an express statutory emphasis on prompt appellate adjudication.

Related provisions

Official legal source: India Code - The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. For the 2026 Supreme Court interpretation of Section 74 limitation, see the judgment on the Supreme Court of India website.