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Delhi Development Authority v. Pritam Singh @ Pritam and Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8519 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8519 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

DDA had acquired the land in question many years earlier but had never taken physical possession, with no stay in operation to justify the delay. The landowner succeeded below in having the acquisition declared lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 land acquisition law, and DDA challenged that outcome before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

Following its own earlier ruling in Civil Appeal No.8477 of 2016 (arising out of SLP(C) No.8467 of 2015), the Court held the point of principle was already decided against DDA and dismissed the appeal. It nonetheless gave DDA a one-year window from the date of the order to issue a fresh Section 11 notification and restart acquisition proceedings, failing which DDA, if in possession, would have to return physical possession of the land to the original owner.

Lesson Learnt

This is one of a recurring set of DDA land-lapsing appeals from August 2016: it reinforces that an acquiring authority's failure to take possession or pay compensation within the statutory period can cause an old acquisition to lapse automatically, regardless of how long ago the original notification was issued.

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

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