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Delhi Administration Thr. Secretary, Land and Building Department & Ors. vs. Pawan Kumar & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 526Decided 6 May 2022
Civil Appeal No. 3646 of 2022
Hemant Gupta · V. Ramasubramanian

Background

Land in Delhi was acquired in the 1980s, with the acquisition award announced in 1987. Pawan Kumar purchased part of this land in 2011: long after the original owner's challenge to the acquisition had already been dismissed by the courts. Relying on a Delhi High Court precedent, he claimed the acquisition should be deemed to have "lapsed" under Section 24(2) of the 2013 land acquisition law because compensation was only deposited in court, not actually paid to the landowners. The High Court agreed and ruled in his favour; the Delhi Administration appealed.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court's order, for two reasons decided together with its companion judgment delivered the same day in Delhi Development Authority vs. Godfrey Phillips (I) Ltd. First, since Pawan Kumar purchased the land after the acquisition notification and award, he was a subsequent purchaser with no right to claim the acquisition had lapsed. Second, relying on the Constitution Bench ruling in Indore Development Authority vs. Manoharlal, the Court held that when compensation is tendered/offered to landowners but they refuse to accept it (here, due to a court being closed for winter vacation, the government deposited cheques with the court), that counts as valid payment. It is not a "non-payment" that would cause the acquisition to lapse.

Lesson Learnt

Government authorities are not penalised for a landowner's refusal to accept compensation, and buyers who purchase land after it has already been through acquisition proceedings acquire no independent right to challenge or unwind that acquisition.

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

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