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Delhi Development Authority v. S.K. Garg and Others

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 10806 of 2016)Decided 11 Nov 2016
Civil Appeal No. 10806 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

As in several other DDA land-acquisition appeals heard by the same bench that month, these twelve connected appeals all concerned land acquisition proceedings that the DDA had initiated but never carried through to completion within the statutory time limit under the old Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found it was not disputed that the acquisition proceedings had lapsed because they were not completed within the time permitted by the 1894 Act, and accordingly dismissed all of DDA's appeals. As in the companion case above, the Court nonetheless gave DDA one year to exercise its liberty to initiate acquisition afresh under Section 11 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, failing which DDA (if in possession) would have to return physical possession of the land to the original owners.

Lesson Learnt

An acquiring authority that lets land acquisition proceedings lapse by not completing them within the statutory time limit loses the benefit of that acquisition and must restart the process under current law: it cannot simply treat an old, unfinished acquisition as still valid.

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

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