No job in lieu of land acquired under Land Acquisition Act: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea of a man from Haryana seeking a job in lieu of his family land acquired, under the Land Acquisition Act, nearly 30 years ago, even before he was born.

A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Prasanna B Varale noted that the family was awarded and paid compensation, yet the man approached the courts seeking a job in lieu of land acquired.

Rejecting his plea, the bench said, “Under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, on the land being acquired, the petitioner or his family is entitled only to the compensation which has already been paid. There is no provision for grant of job in lieu of the acquired land."

The court said the policy decision, if any, of giving job in lieu of the acquired land cannot prevail over the statutory provisions.

“We find no error or illegality on the part of the authorities and the high court in dismissing the claim of the petition for job, which was filed after more than 18 years of the framing of the policy," the bench said.

Appellant Sanjeev Kumar challenged an order passed by High Court of Punjab and Haryana on August 26, 2025.

The petitioner had made Haryana governments and three others as respondents in the matter.

The land of the family of the petitioner is said to have been acquired in the year 1998 under the provisions of Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The court observed that the family of the petitioner was awarded compensation and the same was also paid.

The petitioner who was not even born at the time when the land was acquired.

In the year 2025, he applied for a job in lieu of the acquired land.