'Disappointed With The Manner In Which DDA Has Dealt With Very Valuable Land' : Supreme Court Orders DDA Vice-Chairman To Appear

The Supreme Court recently expressed its disappointment with the manner in which the DDA had dealt with the valuable land.

The bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna was considering a miscellaneous application for directions in the civil appeal wherein the Top Court on August 31, 2016 had directed DDA a period of one year to exercise its liberty granted u/s 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 for initiation of the acquisition proceedings afresh.

"We make it clear that in case no fresh acquisition proceedings are initiated within the said period of one year from today by issuing a Notification under Section 11 of the Act, the appellant, if in possession, shall return the physical possession of the land to the original land owner," the bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and RF Nariman had then observed.

Remarking that it was not the manner in which the DDA officials could deal with the public property, the bench in its order said,

"We are very disappointed with the manner in which the DDA has dealt with the very valuable land. First of all, despite the service of notice, nobody appeared on behalf of the DDA. We were constrained to request Shri K. M. Nataraj, learned ASG to see to it that somebody appears on behalf of the DDA. Thereafter, Shri Nishit Agrawal, learned counsel has appeared on behalf of the DDA today. It is reported that Review Petition D. No. 3906/2022 has been filed only last week, which is filed on the basis of the Full Bench Decision of this Court in the case of Indore Development Authority, which has been delivered in the year 2020. This is not the manner in which the public property is to be dealt with by the DDA officials."

The bench also directed the Vice Chairman of DDA to remain present through virtual mode to enable him to apprise the Court as to what is happening in the DDA so that in future the corrective measures are taken.

Case Title: Delhi Development Authority v. Pritam Kaur & Ors.| Miscellaneous Application Diary No(S). 21678/2020

Coram: Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna

Click Here To Read/Download Order 

Click Here To Read/Download Supreme Court's Order In Civil Appeal in 2016