STATE OF MADRAS vs K. N. SHANMUGHA MUDALLAR & ORS.

The Supreme Court held that under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, the State had two options: to proceed with land acquisition or to take over the land under the Madras Estates Abolition Act, 1948. The Court affirmed the High Court's decision that the respondents were entitled to compensation under the Land Acquisition Act, rejecting the appellant's claim that the land had vested in the State. The Court also upheld the determination of compensation and the interest on it from the date of the award, November 1951, rather than from December 1949 as contended by the appellant.