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Government of NCT of Delhi vs. Ratiram & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 72Decided 20 Jan 2023
Civil Appeal No. 379 of 2023
M.R. Shah · C.T. Ravikumar

Background

Land measuring about 13 bighas 4 biswas in village Ghonda Gujran Khadar, Delhi (in which Ratiram held a 1/12th share) was notified for acquisition under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 in September 1989 for the Planned Development of Delhi, followed by a Section 6 declaration in 1990 and an award in June 1992. According to the Government's own affidavit, possession was taken and handed over to the beneficiary department on 21 March 2007, though compensation had not been paid to the recorded owner. Ratiram and others petitioned the Delhi High Court, which in February 2017 declared the acquisition lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act solely because compensation had not been tendered, relying on Pune Municipal Corporation vs. Harakchand Misirimal Solanki (2014), without addressing the fact that possession had already been taken.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the Government's appeal and set aside the High Court's order. It held that the Pune Municipal Corporation decision on which the High Court relied had been expressly overruled by the Constitution Bench in Indore Development Authority vs. Manoharlal (2020) 8 SCC 129, which laid down that the word "or" in Section 24(2) must be read as "nor"/"and": an acquisition lapses only if the authorities, through inaction for five years or more before 1 January 2014, have neither taken possession nor paid compensation. Where possession has been taken but compensation has not been paid, there is no lapse; once possession is taken under Section 16 of the 1894 Act the land vests in the State and nothing in the 2013 Act divests it. Since possession here was taken in 2007, the deemed-lapse declaration could not stand. The original writ petition was dismissed, with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

Under the 2013 land acquisition law, an old acquisition is treated as lapsed only when the government has done nothing at all for five years, neither taken the land nor paid for it. If the government has taken possession, the landowner's remedy for unpaid compensation is to claim the money (with interest), not to get the acquisition cancelled.

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

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