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Government of NCT of Delhi vs. Subhash Jain & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 1250Decided 2 Dec 2022
Civil Appeal No. 8937 of 2022
M.R. Shah · C.T. Ravikumar

Background

This case is materially identical to a companion appeal decided the same day (Government of NCT of Delhi vs. Sudesh Verma). The Delhi High Court had declared land acquisition proceedings for the land in question lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 land acquisition law, relying on the Pune Municipal Corporation precedent. The government appealed, arguing that possession could not be taken earlier because the original landowners themselves had litigated the acquisition all the way to the Supreme Court and lost.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court's judgment. It held that Pune Municipal Corporation had since been overruled by the Constitution Bench in Indore Development Authority vs. Manoharlal (2020), which clarified that periods during which court proceedings (brought by the landowners themselves) prevented possession being taken must be excluded when calculating whether the five-year inaction period under Section 24(2) has run. Since the delay here was caused by the landowners' own unsuccessful litigation, no lapse could be claimed.

Lesson Learnt

Delay in taking possession of acquired land caused by the landowner's own court challenge cannot later be used by that same landowner to argue the acquisition has lapsed for government inaction.

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

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