PARSOTTAMBHAI MAGANBHAI PATEL vs STATE OF GUJARAT

The Supreme Court held that the application for making a reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act was not barred by limitation, as the claimants were not present when the award was made and were not served with notice under Section 12(2). The Court clarified that the limitation period should be computed from the date of knowledge of the award, which was in July 1988, rather than from the date of the award itself on January 17, 1982. Consequently, the Court set aside the High Court's ruling and upheld the Assistant Judge's finding that the application was timely filed.