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. 7004 of 2015 by which the High Court has allowed the said writ petition preferred by the respondent No. 1 herein and has declared that the acquisition proceedings initiated under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as “Act, 1894”) with regard to the land in question is deemed to have lapsed under 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 Government of NCT of Delhi and Anr. have preferred the present appeal.

2. In the present case, the land in question was acquired in the year 1964 and the notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was issued on 13.02.1964. Award was made on 12.05.1967. That according to the Land Acquisition Collector (LAC), the physical possession of the land in question was taken on 07.06.1967 and the compensation was duly deposited with the Reference Court on 13.11.1967. That thereafter on the Act, 2013, coming into force, the respondent No. 1 – original writ petitioner on the basis of some documents – General Power of Attorney, receipts etc. filed the writ petition before the High Court and prayed for lapse of the acquisition under Section 24(2) of the Act, 2013. Though a specific plea was raised before the High Court that the respondent No. 1 – original writ petitioner has no locus to challenge the acquisition and the recorded owner is somebody else, relying upon the decision of the High Court in the case of Smt. Harbans Kaur Vs. Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Ors. [W.P.(C) 5358 of 2014, decided on 02.02.2015], the High Court has allowed the said writ petition.

2.1 From the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court, it appears that in the case of Smt. Harbans Kaur (supra), the High Court has relied upon the decision of this Court in the case of Pune Municipal Corporation and Anr. Vs. Harakchand Misirimal Solanki and Ors., (2014) 3 SCC 183.

2.2 The decision of this Court in the case of Pune Municipal Corporation and Anr. (supra), which was relied upon by the High Court while deciding the case of Smt. Harbans Kaur (supra), has been specifically overruled by the Constitution Bench of this Court in the case of Indore Development Authority Vs. Manoharlal and Ors., (2020) 8 SCC 129. In paragraphs 365 and 366, the Constitution Bench of this Court has observed and held as under:-

“365. Resultantly, the decision rendered in Pune Municipal Corpn. [Pune Municipal Corpn. v. Harakchand Misirimal Solanki, (2014) 3 SCC 183] is hereby overruled and all other decisions in which Pune Municipal Corpn. [Pune Municipal Corpn. v. Harakchand Misirimal Solanki, (2014) 3 SCC 183] has been followed, are also overruled. The decision in Sree Balaji Nagar Residential Assn. [Sree Balaji Nagar Residential Assn. v. State of T.N., (2015) 3 SCC 353] cannot be said to be laying down good law, is overruled and other decisions following the same are also overruled. In Indore Development Authority v. Shailendra [(2018) 3 SCC 412], the aspect with respect to the proviso to Section 24(2) and whether “or” has to be read as “nor” or as “and” was not placed for consideration. Therefore, that decision too cannot prevail, in the light of the discussion in the present judgment.

366. In view of the aforesaid discussion, we answer the questions as under:

366.1. Under the provisions of Section 24(1)(a) in case the award is not made as on 1-1-2014, the date of commencement of the 2013 Act, there is no lapse of proceedings. Compensation has to be determined under the provisions of the 2013 Act.

366.2. In case the award has been passed within the window period of five years excluding the period covered by an interim order of the court, then proceedings shall continue as provided under Section 24(1)(b) of the 2013 Act und