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Govt. of NCT of Delhi vs. Sushil Kumar Gupta & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 121Decided 10 Feb 2023
Civil Appeal No. 352 of 2023
M.R. Shah · C.T. Ravikumar

Background

The respondent had gone to the Delhi High Court seeking a declaration that acquisition proceedings over his land had lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 land acquisition law, because compensation had allegedly never been paid. The High Court agreed, relying on an earlier Supreme Court decision (Pune Municipal Corporation), even though the government's own record showed that physical possession of the land had actually been taken over as far back as 1981. The Delhi Government appealed to the Supreme Court with a significant delay, which the respondent opposed.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court first condoned the delay in filing the appeal, noting that similar delays had been condoned in other, similar cases, and that the High Court's decision rested on a precedent (Pune Municipal Corporation) that had since been expressly overruled by a five-judge Constitution Bench in Indore Development Authority vs. Manoharlal. Under that binding ruling, a "lapse" under Section 24(2) requires that possession was NOT taken AND compensation was NOT paid. If either condition is satisfied, there is no lapse. Since possession here had undisputedly been taken back in 1981, the twin conditions for a lapse were not met regardless of any compensation dispute. The High Court's judgment was set aside and the original writ petition was dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

A land acquisition from decades ago cannot be reopened and treated as "lapsed" today simply because compensation is disputed, if the government already took physical possession of the land, both possession and payment must have failed for five years or more for a lapse to apply.

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

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