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Delhi Development Authority v. Lalit Kumar Goel and Ors

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8664 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8664 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

Another appeal in the same batch of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) matters, here against landowner Lalit Kumar Goel and others, raising the identical legal question already decided against the DDA in Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 (arising out of SLP (Civil) No. 8467 of 2015).

Decision Breakdown

Relying on its own precedent covering the identical issue, the Court dismissed the DDA's appeal and confirmed the lapse of acquisition. It granted the DDA a one-year window to initiate fresh acquisition proceedings under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act by issuing a new Section 11 notification, failing which the DDA, if in possession of the land, was directed to return physical possession to the original owner.

Lesson Learnt

The same legal principle, that incomplete acquisition proceedings lapse under the 2013 Act but the authority gets a fresh time-bound chance, applies uniformly to all similarly situated landowners, not just the first litigant who raised the point.

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

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