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Delhi Development Authority v. Attar Singh & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8679 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8679 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

DDA's land acquisition against respondent Attar Singh was challenged, and the matter came up before the Supreme Court on DDA's appeal, raising the same recurring issue decided against DDA earlier that day in a lead case.

Decision Breakdown

Treating the issue as covered, in principle, by its judgment in Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 (arising out of SLP(C) No. 8467 of 2015), the Court dismissed the appeal. Considering the facts, DDA was given one year to exercise its liberty under Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, by issuing a Section 11 notification to restart acquisition.

Lesson Learnt

The same deadline-based remedy applies here: a one-year "use it or lose it" window for the authority to re-initiate acquisition, or else return physical possession to the landowner.

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

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