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Delhi Development Authority v. Amin Khan

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8522 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8522 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

DDA had acquired land belonging to Amin Khan and others without taking possession or completing compensation within the statutory period, and a finding below held the acquisition had lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act. DDA appealed against that finding.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held this was the same recurring issue already decided against DDA by its lead judgment, Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016, and dismissed the appeal accordingly. It gave DDA one year to begin fresh acquisition proceedings through a new Section 11 notification, directing that if DDA failed to issue one within that period, it had to return possession of the land to the original owner.

Lesson Learnt

This case is part of a large cluster of DDA appeals decided on the same principle: landowners whose land was acquired without timely possession or compensation can have the acquisition declared lapsed under the 2013 Act.

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

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