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Delhi Development Authority v. Gursharan Singh Chhabra

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8618 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8618 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

Another in the batch of DDA appeals, this one against landowner Gursharan Singh Chhabra, over whether DDA's land acquisition had lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act. The legal question was identical to the one already settled in the Supreme Court's lead judgment, Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 (arising from SLP(C) No. 8467 of 2015).

Decision Breakdown

The Court held the issue was covered against DDA by the lead judgment and dismissed the appeal. It gave DDA one year to initiate fresh acquisition proceedings via a new Section 11 notification, failing which DDA, if still in possession, was ordered to return physical possession of the land to the original owner.

Lesson Learnt

A procedural lapse in land acquisition does not instantly or unconditionally hand possession back to the landowner: courts may give the authority a final, time-bound chance to re-acquire properly.

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

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