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Shashi Bal Bansal vs. DDA

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026:DHC:8068Decided 10 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
W.P.(C) 7501/2012CNR: DLHC011917012012
Justice Jasmeet Singh

Background

The petitioner had registered under a DDA housing scheme in 1980 for allotment of a low-income-group flat. DDA's official records showed a demand-cum-allotment letter was sent to her in 1993, but she said she never received it and asked repeatedly (in 1993, 1994, 1995 and again in 1998) for a copy so she could pay and complete the allotment. She kept visiting DDA's office for years, and cited a 2005 DDA policy meant to help people in similar situations, but only filed this writ petition in 2012, nearly two decades after the original notice.

Decision Breakdown

The Court found that letters from 1994-95 already on record showed the petitioner clearly knew by then that a demand letter had been issued in her name, yet she waited many more years to approach the court, including a further unexplained gap of about seven years even after the 2005 policy was introduced. Citing settled Supreme Court law that courts will not entertain writ petitions filed after very long, unexplained delay, the Court dismissed the petition, while still directing DDA to refund the money she had earlier deposited with them, as DDA itself had agreed to do.

Lesson Learnt

Courts have no fixed deadline for filing a writ petition, but they will still throw out a case if a person "sleeps over" their rights for an inordinate number of years without a good explanation, acting promptly matters even when the law doesn't set a strict time limit.

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