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Delhi Development Authority v. Puneet Lakra & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 2980 of 2017)Decided 17 Feb 2017
Civil Appeal No. 2980 of 2017
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice A.M. Khanwilkar

Background

As in a closely related appeal decided the same day (Civil Appeal No. 3169 of 2017, DDA vs. Anil Kumar), the Delhi Development Authority challenged a ruling against it on a land acquisition dispute, where the issue of whether the acquisition had lapsed was in question. The Supreme Court noted that this very issue was already settled against DDA's position by two of its own earlier judgments (Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 and Civil Appeal No. 5811 of 2015).

Decision Breakdown

Following its own precedent, the Court dismissed DDA's appeal. However, in the peculiar facts of this case, it gave DDA a one-year window to initiate fresh acquisition proceedings for the land under Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The Court made clear that if DDA failed to issue a fresh Section 11 notification within that year, and it was still in possession of the land, it would have to return physical possession to the original landowners.

Lesson Learnt

Even after a land acquisition is found to have lapsed, the acquiring authority may be given one last defined opportunity to restart the process correctly, but missing that deadline means the land goes back to its original owners.

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

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