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Delhi Development Authority v. Amarjeet Rewari and Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8507 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8507 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

DDA appealed against an order favouring Amarjeet Rewari and others concerning land it had sought to acquire, again as part of the connected batch of DDA land-acquisition appeals heard on 31 August 2016. The issue was whether DDA's acquisition proceedings had lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act, decided against DDA in the lead case, Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016.

Decision Breakdown

The Court dismissed the appeal as covered by the lead judgment, while granting DDA one year from the date of the order to initiate fresh acquisition proceedings under Section 11 of the 2013 Act. If DDA failed to act within the year and remained in possession, it was directed to return physical possession of the land to the original owner. Pending applications were disposed of.

Lesson Learnt

When several nearly identical disputes stem from the same lapsed government acquisition, the outcome and remedy will track the lead decision closely, giving affected landowners a predictable, consistent result.

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

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