Letters Patent Appeal remains maintainable after a Single Judge decision in a Land Acquisition Act appeal absent express statutory bar.

A statutory appeal to the High Court under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 does not, by itself, exclude a further intra-court appeal under the Letters Patent. The non-obstante clause was treated as regulating the appellate forum rather than abolishing charter jurisdiction, and the phrase "an appeal" was not read as limiting the High Court to a single stage of appeal. Section 26, which treats the award as a decree and its grounds as a judgment, also supported maintainability. A Letters Patent Appeal therefore remains maintainable unless expressly or by necessary implication barred.

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Issues: Whether a Letters Patent Appeal is maintainable against a judgment of a Single Judge of the High Court passed in an appeal under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Analysis: Section 54 provides that an appeal shall lie to the High Court from the award or part of the award and then to the Supreme Court from the decree of the High Court. The non-obstante clause in the section was held to regulate the forum of appeal, not to exclude the charter jurisdiction under the Letters Patent. The expression "an appeal" was construed as not limiting the High Court to only one appeal, and the provision was harmoniously read with the Letters Patent. Section 26, which treats the award as a decree and its grounds as a judgment, also supported the conclusion that a judgment of a Single Judge in such an appeal remains appealable under the Letters Patent unless expressly barred.

Conclusion: A Letters Patent Appeal is maintainable under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Final Conclusion: The legal position was affirmed in favour of the maintainability of the intra-court appeal, and the matter was directed to proceed before the Division Bench for decision on the remaining questions.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory appeal to the High Court under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 does not by itself exclude a Letters Patent Appeal unless the statute expressly or by necessary implication bars such further appeal.

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