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Delhi Development Authority v. Kartar Solanki and Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8641 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8641 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

The final case in this batch of DDA land-acquisition appeals, again raising the issue already decided against DDA in Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 (arising from SLP (C) No. 8467 of 2015).

Decision Breakdown

The Court dismissed DDA's appeal, applying the same precedent, and gave DDA one year from the date of judgment to issue a fresh Section 11 notification and restart acquisition under Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. If DDA did not act within that year and was in possession, it was directed to return the land to the original owner.

Lesson Learnt

Across this entire run of cases, the Supreme Court applied one consistent rule to lapsed DDA land acquisitions: restart within a year under the 2013 Act, or give the land back, illustrating how a single binding precedent can resolve a whole cluster of similar appeals efficiently.

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

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