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Delhi Development Authority v. Shashi Jai Krishna and Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8512 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8512 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

This was another in the series of DDA appeals, against Shashi Jai Krishna and others, decided on 31 August 2016 along with the other connected matters. The issue was whether DDA's old acquisition proceedings had lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act, already decided against DDA in the lead case, Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016.

Decision Breakdown

The Court dismissed the appeal, holding it was covered by the lead judgment, and gave DDA one year from the date of the order to initiate fresh acquisition proceedings by issuing a notification under Section 11 of the 2013 Act. If DDA failed to do this within the year and remained in possession, it was directed to return physical possession of the land to the original owner. Pending applications were disposed of.

Lesson Learnt

This case reconfirms, as part of a large batch of nearly identical DDA appeals decided the same day, that an authority cannot rely indefinitely on a lapsed land acquisition: it must restart the process within a defined period or relinquish the land.

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

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