IMPORTANT POINT
Acquisition proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 lapsed due to non-payment of compensation and non-taking of possession, as per Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act.

JUDGMENT :

Dharmesh Sharma, J.

1. The petitioners are invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, 1950 for issuance of an appropriate writ, order or direction, thereby seeking the following reliefs:

“I. Issue a Writ, Order or direction in the nature of Mandamus and/or a Writ, calling for the records of the case and after examining the legality and validity of the same direct the Respondent not to carry out any demolition proceedings in the land admeasuring 01 Bigha, 01 Biswas, out of Khasra No.39 in the Revenue Estate of Village Humayunpur, Delhi110029 which is purportedly referred to as Plot/Site No. 13 and 14, B4, Safdarjung Enclave, New Deihi-110029 by the Respondent.

II. Issue a Writ, Order or direction in the nature of Mandamus calling for the records of the case and after examining the legality and validity of the same direct the Respondents not to disturb the peaceful, physical, settled possession of the Petitioners in the land admeasuring 01 Bigha.”

BRIEF FACTS:

2. The brief facts leading to the filing of the present petition are that the petitioners are members of a large family, viz., petitioner No.l namely Mukhtyar Singh, who is the legal heir of late Shri Ganga Das, petitioner No.2 namely Virender Singh and petitioner No.3 namely Vikram Singh are the legal heirs of the owner namely Late Shri Ramkishan , while petitioner No.4 namely Jai Singh and petitioner No.5namely Subhash Chander are the legal heirs of the owner namely Late Shri Balram Singh. Petitioner No.6 namely Amit Phogaat, petitioner No.7 namely Ashish Phogaat and petitioner No.8 namely Aman Phogaat are the legal heirs of the owner namely Late Shri Tejbeer Singh. Petitioner No.9 namely Narayan Singh is the legal heir of the owner namely Late Shri Balbir Singh and petitioner No.10 namely Rajinder Singh is the legal heir of the owner namely Late Shri Khuba Ram. In brief, they claim that they are the owners of land admeasuring 01 Bigha, 01 Biswas, out of Khasra No.39 in the Revenue Estate of Village Humayunpur, Delhi 110029 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘subject land?) and claim to be in settled and undisturbed physical possession of the property in question.

3. It is claimed that, a notification dated 3.9.1957 being No. F.15(84)/57-L.S.G. under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred as “LAC Act”) was issued by the respondent. Thereafter a declaration dated 03.4.1964 under Section 6 of the Act was issued by the Government of NCT of Delhi stating that the land mentioned therein was required for public purpose namely, “Execution of the Interim General Plan for Greater Delhi”. Consequently, the Land Acquisition Collector (MW), Shri V.K. Bhalla passed the Award No. 2121 dated 29.06.1968 for Village Humayunpur for the purpose of the acquisition as mentioned in the aforesaid scheme, which included the land of the petitioners.

4. Meanwhile, the Legislature introduced „the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013; with effect from 01.01.2014.The petitioners aggrieved by the issuance of the notification dated 03.09.1957 under Section 4 of the old Land Acquisition Act,1894 and the declaration dated 03.04.1964 issued by the respondent under Section 6 of the old Land Acquisition Act,1894 as well as the award no. 2121 dated 26.06.1968 being in teeth of Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 filed Writ Petition (Civil) No. 6820/2015 before this Hon'ble Court, which was allowed vide dated 30.05.2016 by this Court. The relevant portion of the order is reproduced below:

“2. It is an admitted position that neither physical possession of the subject land has been taken by the land acquiring agency, nor has any compensation been paid to the petitioners. The award was made more than five years prior to the commencement of the 2013 Act. All the ingred