IMPORTANT POINT
Lapse of land acquisition proceeding – There cannot be any lapse of acquisition under Section 24(2) of Act, 2013 on the ground of possession could not be taken over by authority and/or compensation could not be deposited/tendered due to pending litigations.

JUDGMENT :

M.R. Shah, J.

1. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi in Writ Petition (C) No. 11735 of 2016 by which the High Court has allowed the said writ petition preferred by the private respondents herein – original writ petitioners and has declared that the acquisition with respect to the lands in question has lapsed by virtue of Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as “Act, 2013”), the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has preferred the present appeal.

2. That the respondent No. 1 herein – original writ petitioner filed a writ petition before the High Court seeking declaration that the acquisition with respect to the suit lands, i.e., Khasra No. 589 (1-8), 1 bigha and 8 biswas (out of 4 bighas) situated in the Revenue Estate of Village Maidan Garhi, NCT of Delhi, is deemed to have lapsed by virtue of Section 24(2) of the Act, 2013.

2.1 At the outset, it is required to be noted that the lands in question alongwith other agricultural lands were notified to be acquired under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as “Act, 1894”) on 25.11.1980; declaration under Section 6 of the Act, 1894 was issued on 07.06.1985; and award came to be declared by the Collector on 17.06.1987.

2.2 There were number of litigations initiated by various landowners with respect to the acquisition in question. The acquisition proceedings initiated by the aforesaid notification/declaration were challenged by the interested persons by filing various writ petitions wherein interim protection was granted by the High Court.

2.3 Various rounds of litigations were fought in respect of the abovementioned notifications. The High Court dismissed the writ petitions vide judgment and order dated 25.11.2004 and upheld the acquisition proceedings. It appears that in one set of writ petitions, there was difference of opinion and these cases were referred to the third Judge, which came to be dismissed on 11.05.2007. These cases were decided in favour of the landowners and the notification under Section 6 and subsequent acquisition proceedings were quashed. However, subsequently, by reported judgment in the case of Om Parkash v. Union of India and Ors., (2010) 4 SCC 17 this Court upheld the acquisition proceedings. Thus, the acquisition qua the lands in question attained finality. That thereafter the private respondent herein – original writ petitioner filed the present writ petition before the High Court for the aforesaid reliefs.

2.4 A detailed counter was filed on behalf of the Delhi Development Authority – the appellant herein inter alia challenging the locus of the original writ petitioner. It was the case on behalf of the Delhi Development Authority that the possession at the relevant time could not be taken over due to the various litigations pending with respect to the notification/declaration. Though, it was also the case on behalf of the Delhi Development Authority that the substantial possession with respect to most of the lands to be acquired were taken over, however, with respect to some portion of the acquisition, the possession could not be taken over due to the pending litigations. Despite the above and even without considering the objections on the locus of the original writ petitioner, by the impugned judgment and order, the High Court has declared that the acquisition proceedings with respect to the lands in question is deemed to have been lapsed by virtue of Section 24(2) of the Act, 2013, as neither the compensation has been paid nor the possession of the lands in question has been taken over. The impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court is the subject matter of present appeal.

3. Ms. Manika Tripathy, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant – DDA has submitted that as such the original writ petitioner had