This Article is necessitated by a plethora of conflicting decisions of the various High Courts as well as the Apex Court on the question of the applicability of Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1963 to the Land Acquisition cases especially to a Reference Proceeding u/s. 18 of the Land Acquisition Act. The recent decisions of the Division Bench of Karnataka High Court reported in ILR (1991) Kant 4242 and ILR (1991) Kant 4266 have ruled that Sections 5 and 29 (2) of the Limitation Act, 1963 cannot be invoked for condonation of delay in filing reference u/s. 18 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894. Similarly a Division Bench Ruling of the Karnataka High Court (AIR 1982 Karnataka 350 at page 354) held that Section 5 of the Limitation Act is not applicable to Land Acquisition Cases. Whereas the High Courts of Bombay, Gujarat, Punjab & Haryana and Orissa have held that Sec. 5 of the Limitation Act is applicable to the Land Acquisition cases and Land Acquisition Offi ....