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Delhi Development Authority vs. Bhim Sain Goel and Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 472Decided 25 Apr 2022
Civil Appeal No. 3151 of 2022
K.M. Joseph · Hrishikesh Roy

Background

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) issued a notification in 2003 to acquire the respondents' land and passed a compensation award in 2005, but the respondents filed writ petitions and obtained court stay orders that prevented the DDA from ever taking physical possession. Years later, after a new land acquisition law (the 2013 Act) came into force, the respondents argued in a fresh writ petition that the old acquisition had "lapsed" under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act because possession was never taken and compensation was never paid within five years. The Delhi High Court agreed and ruled the acquisition had lapsed, and the DDA appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the respondents could not benefit from the "lapsing" provision because it was their own conduct, filing repeated litigation and obtaining stay orders, that had prevented the DDA from taking possession in the first place. Relying on its Constitution Bench ruling in Indore Development Authority vs. Manoharlal, the Court reiterated that a party cannot profit from delay caused by its own interim orders, and that the period during which a court stay was in effect must be excluded when calculating whether the five-year "lapse" period had passed. The Court also addressed a complication where, during the appeal, the land had separately been notified for a highway project under a different law, but held that since the land had already legally vested with the DDA under the earlier acquisition, it could not be acquired again. The appeal was allowed and the High Court's "lapse" ruling was set aside, though the Court gave the landowners one month to seek enhanced compensation if they hadn't already.

Lesson Learnt

A landowner who repeatedly litigates and obtains court stays against a land acquisition cannot later use the resulting delay to claim the acquisition itself has "lapsed". The law does not reward a party for using litigation to block the very possession or payment that triggers the lapse.

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

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