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Delhi Development Authority v. Meer Singh & Others

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8575 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8575 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

DDA had begun acquisition proceedings over the respondent's land but had not completed payment of compensation or taking of physical possession within the statutory time. The landowner relied on Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 to have the acquisition declared lapsed, and succeeded before the High Court. DDA appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held the issue was already settled against DDA in its own earlier ruling in Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 (arising from SLP(C) No. 8467 of 2015) and dismissed the appeal on that footing. As a concession specific to the facts, DDA was given one year to issue a fresh Section 11 notification and restart acquisition; failing that, if still in possession, it had to return the land to the original owner.

Lesson Learnt

Delay by an acquiring authority in paying compensation or taking possession can cause an acquisition to lapse by operation of law, protecting the landowner's title, even though the authority may be given one last, time-bound opportunity to redo the process correctly.

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

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