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Delhi Development Authority v. Anil Kumar & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 3169 of 2017)Decided 23 Feb 2017
Civil Appeal No. 3169 of 2017
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice R. Banumathi

Background

The Delhi Development Authority challenged a ruling against it concerning land it had sought to acquire, where the landowners contended the acquisition had lapsed. The Supreme Court noted that the identical legal issue was already settled against DDA's position by two of its own earlier judgments (Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 and Civil Appeal No. 5811 of 2015).

Decision Breakdown

Following its own precedent, the Court dismissed DDA's appeal. However, taking into account the specific facts of this case, the Court gave DDA a one-year window to initiate fresh acquisition proceedings for the land under Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The Court made clear that if DDA failed to issue a fresh Section 11 notification within that year, and it was still in possession of the land, it would have to hand back physical possession to the original owners.

Lesson Learnt

Even where a land acquisition is found to have lapsed, courts can give the acquiring authority a limited window to restart the process properly, but if that window is missed, the land must be returned to its original owners.

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

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