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Bathinda Development Authority (formerly PUDA) v. Iqbal Singh & Others

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 2464 of 2015)Decided 26 Feb 2015
Civil Appeal No. 2464 of 2015
Justice Vikramajit Sen · Justice Prafulla C. Pant

Background

The Punjab & Haryana High Court's Division Bench had allowed writ petitions brought by landowners, declaring that a land acquisition initiated by the Development Authority had lapsed. The Authority appealed to the Supreme Court against that order.

Decision Breakdown

This is a very short, non-reportable order. The Supreme Court, after condoning delay and granting leave, found that the acquisition had indeed lapsed because possession of the land had not been taken and compensation had not been paid: squarely attracting the protection under Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The Court held this was sufficient ground on its own and dismissed the appeal, upholding the High Court's finding.

Lesson Learnt

Under the 2013 land acquisition law, an old acquisition proceeding can lapse and require fresh acquisition if the government neither took physical possession of the land nor paid compensation to the landowner within the stipulated period.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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