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Delhi Development Authority v. Maan Singh & Others

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8576 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8576 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

DDA had notified acquisition of the respondents' land but had neither paid compensation nor taken physical possession within the statutory period. The respondents succeeded before the High Court in having the acquisition declared lapsed under Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. DDA appealed.

Decision Breakdown

The Court found the issue already decided against DDA in its own earlier judgment in Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 (arising from SLP(C) No. 8467 of 2015) and dismissed the appeal accordingly. As a one-time accommodation, DDA was allowed one year to issue a fresh Section 11 notification and restart the acquisition; otherwise, if still in possession, it had to return the land to the original owners.

Lesson Learnt

Years of inaction on payment of compensation or taking possession after an acquisition notification can cause the whole acquisition to lapse by law, restoring the land to its original owner, subject only to a final, time-bound opportunity for the authority to start afresh.

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

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