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Delhi Development Authority v. Shyam Singh & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8643 of 2016)Decided 31 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8643 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

Like a batch of similar DDA appeals decided the same day, this case concerned land acquired by DDA where the question was whether the acquisition had lapsed. DDA's appeal reached the Supreme Court after an adverse High Court order.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held the issue was already covered in principle against DDA by its judgment in the related Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 and dismissed the appeal. It nonetheless granted DDA one year to initiate fresh acquisition proceedings by issuing a Section 11 notification under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, failing which DDA (if in possession) was directed to return physical possession of the land to the original owner.

Lesson Learnt

Where an acquisition is held to have lapsed, the acquiring body gets a limited, time-bound opportunity to restart the process properly rather than an indefinite right to retain the land: otherwise possession must revert to the landowner.

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

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