C.K. NARAYANA CHARY vs POTHEPALLI ASHANNA & ORS.

The Supreme Court held that under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, if public notice of the substance of a notification is not given within forty days of its publication in the Official Gazette, the notification is invalid. In this case, the notification was published on 18th October 1979, but public notice was only given on 18th December 1979, resulting in a time gap exceeding forty days. Consequently, the Court upheld the High Court's decision to quash the notification, as it did not consider the Land Acquisition (Andhra Pradesh Amendment and Validation) Act, 1983, which was enacted after the High Court's judgment but was not brought to its attention.