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Delhi Development Authority vs Jagan Singh & Ors. (Civil Appeal No. 943/2023)

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 139Decided 17 Feb 2023
Civil Appeal No. 943 of 2023
M.R. Shah · C.T. Ravikumar · Sanjay Karol

Background

The Delhi High Court had declared that DDA's acquisition of certain land had "lapsed" under Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, because compensation had not been paid to the landowner, relying on the Supreme Court's earlier ruling in Pune Municipal Corporation vs Harakchand Misirimal Solanki (2014). It was undisputed that DDA had already taken physical possession of the land back in 2007. DDA appealed to the Supreme Court against the High Court's finding of lapse.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed DDA's appeal and set aside the High Court's judgment, holding that the Pune Municipal Corporation precedent the High Court relied upon had since been expressly overruled by a five-judge Constitution Bench in Indore Development Authority vs Manoharlal (2020). Under that binding ruling, the word "or" in Section 24(2) between "possession" and "compensation" must be read as "nor"/"and" - meaning acquisition lapses only if BOTH possession was not taken AND compensation was not paid for five years or more. Since DDA had already taken possession of the land in 2007, there could be no lapse merely because compensation remained unpaid. The Court accordingly quashed the High Court's lapse declaration and dismissed the original writ petition, restoring the acquisition.

Lesson Learnt

Under the 2013 land acquisition law, a land acquisition proceeding lapses only when the authority has failed BOTH to take possession AND to pay compensation for five years or more; taking possession alone protects the acquisition from lapsing even if compensation payment is delayed, and this principle from the Constitution Bench's Indore Development Authority ruling now controls over the earlier, since-overruled Pune Municipal Corporation view.

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

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