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The State of Haryana & Ors. vs Sushila & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 36Decided 13 Jan 2023
Civil Appeal No. 9205 of 2022
M.R. Shah · S. Ravindra Bhat · C.T. Ravikumar as the second judge

Background

Land in village Nathupur (Gurgaon district) was notified for acquisition in August 2003 and the award was passed on 4 August 2006, with possession handed over to HUDA the same day. Sushila and others, who were only tenants on Gram Panchayat land when the acquisition began, became owners by a High Court order in May 2006, and several of whom then sold their land to a third party even before the award: later filed a writ petition claiming the acquisition had lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act because neither possession had been taken nor compensation paid to them. The State's written statement disputed all this, saying possession had been taken in 2006, the petitioners were encroachers, and compensation was lying deposited but unpaid only because they were not the owners on the award date. The Punjab and Haryana High Court nevertheless declared the acquisition lapsed in December 2017, and the State appealed.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court's order and dismissed the original writ petition. It found the High Court had entirely ignored the State's specific case that possession was handed over to HUDA on the award date, that the petitioners were not owners at that time and that compensation was therefore rightly withheld from them. Once the acquiring body has taken possession, anyone occupying the land afterwards is an encroacher, and encroachers cannot invoke Section 24(2) to claim the acquisition lapsed merely because they happen to be in possession: that would reward illegality, which the legislature could not have intended. Independently, following its own decisions in Delhi Administration v. Pawan Kumar and DDA v. Godfrey Phillips, the Court held that subsequent purchasers have no standing at all to challenge an acquisition or seek its lapse, so the writ petition should never have been entertained.

Lesson Learnt

A person who buys land after it has been notified for acquisition, or who occupies acquired land after the government has taken possession, has no right to challenge the acquisition or claim it has lapsed. The 2013 Act's lapse provision protects genuine owners let down by government inaction, not later purchasers or encroachers.

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

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