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Delhi Development Authority v. Green Finance Pvt. Ltd. & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 9422 of 2016)Decided 20 Sept 2016
Civil Appeal No. 9422 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had sought to acquire land from Green Finance Pvt. Ltd. and others, but the land owners resisted on the ground that the acquisition had lapsed. The DDA's appeal to the Supreme Court was heard together with two connected appeals (Civil Appeal Nos. 9423 and 9425 of 2016) arising from the same dispute.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the legal issue was already settled against the DDA by two of its own earlier judgments (in Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 and Civil Appeal No. 5811 of 2015), which had held similar acquisitions to have lapsed under Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. Applying that precedent, the Court dismissed all three appeals. However, in view of the peculiar facts, it gave the DDA one year's liberty to initiate fresh acquisition proceedings under Section 24(2) by issuing a fresh notification under Section 11 of the 2013 Act, failing which the DDA (if in possession) was directed to return physical possession of the land to the original owners.

Lesson Learnt

Under the 2013 land acquisition law, an acquisition can lapse if compensation isn't paid or possession isn't taken within the statutory period, but even after such a lapse is judicially confirmed, the acquiring authority may still get a limited window to restart the process properly rather than losing the land outright.

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

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