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Delhi Development Authority v. Shashi Kant Goenka

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 6356 of 2017)Decided 4 May 2017
Civil Appeal No. 6356 of 2017
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice R. Banumathi

Background

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) appealed against a ruling that had gone against it on a land acquisition issue. The Court noted that the point of law involved was already settled against the DDA by two of its own earlier judgments in similar matters (Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 and Civil Appeal No. 5811 of 2015).

Decision Breakdown

Condoning the delay in filing and granting leave to appeal, the Supreme Court dismissed the DDA's appeal since the issue was already covered against it by binding precedent. However, in the peculiar facts of the case, the Court gave the DDA six months to initiate fresh land acquisition proceedings by issuing a fresh notification under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act; if it failed to do so within that period, it would have to hand back physical possession of the land to the original owner.

Lesson Learnt

Once a legal question has been settled by the Supreme Court in earlier rulings, the same point will not be relitigated in a fresh appeal, but the Court can still give a losing public authority a limited window to correct the underlying procedural lapse (here, re-starting acquisition) rather than leaving the matter in limbo.

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

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