Mandatory two-year limit under land acquisition law runs from the last Section 6 publication, and a corrigendum cannot extend it.

Section 11A of the Land Acquisition Act makes the Collector's award mandatory within two years from the last publication of the Section 6 declaration; if that period expires, the acquisition lapses. A subsequent corrigendum to the Section 6 declaration does not extend the statutory period, because the only recognised exclusion is the time during which proceedings are stayed by a court order. Reading any further exclusion into the provision would add words not found in the statute. The award was therefore time-barred and invalid, and the challenge succeeded.

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Issues: Whether the award in land acquisition proceedings was invalid for having been made beyond the two-year period prescribed under Section 11A of the Land Acquisition Act, and whether a subsequent corrigendum to the declaration under Section 6 could extend that period.

Analysis: Section 11A requires the Collector to make the award within two years from the date of publication of the declaration under Section 6, failing which the acquisition proceedings lapse. The provision is mandatory and the relevant date is the last publication of the declaration under Section 6. A later corrigendum to that declaration does not enlarge the statutory period, because the only exclusion contemplated by the explanation to Section 11A is the period during which the proceedings are stayed by a court order. Reading a further exclusion for a corrigendum would amount to adding words to the statute.

Conclusion: The award was time-barred and invalid, and the challenge to it succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: The two-year period under Section 11A of the Land Acquisition Act runs from the last publication of the Section 6 declaration, is mandatory, and cannot be extended by a subsequent corrigendum unless the delay falls within the statutory exclusion for court-ordered stay.

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