Kartar Singh vs Union Of India And Anr
2014 Latest Caselaw 4505 Del

$~73 (Category-I)

         IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

                                              Judgment delivered on: 16.09.2014

W.P.(C) 3062/2014 & CM No.6413/2014 & 909/2014

KARTAR SINGH                                                       ..... Petitioners



                             versus



UNION OF INDIA AND ANR                                            ..... Respondents

Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioner  : Mr Mahabir Singh, Sr. Advocate with Mr Rakesh Dahiya, and Mr
                      Jitender Singh, Advocates
For the Respondents : Mr Sanjay Poddar, Sr. Advocate with Mr Siddharth Panda, Mr Yeeshu
                      Jain, Ms Jyoti Tyagi and Mr Anshuman Nayak for L&B/LAC
                      Mr Rakesh Khanna, Sr. Advocate with Mr Ajay Verma and Mr Arjun
                      Pant Advocates for DDA


CORAM:
HON'BLE MR JUSTICE BADAR DURREZ AHMED
HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SIDDHARTH MRIDUL

                                 JUDGMENT

BADAR DURREZ AHMED, J (ORAL)

1. By way of this writ petition the petitioner is seeking the benefit of

section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land

Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred

to as 'the 2013 Act') which came into effect on 01.01.2014. The petitioner,

consequently, seeks a declaration that the acquisition proceeding initiated

under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as 'the 1894

Act') and in respect of which Award No.41/78-79 dated 31.01.1979* was

made, inter alia, in respect of the petitioner's land comprised in Khasra Nos.

850/2 Min and 849/2 Min measuring 2450** square yards in Village

Mohammadpur, Munirka shall be deemed to have lapsed.

2. It is an admitted position that neither physical possession of the

subject lands has been taken by the land acquiring agency, nor has any

compensation been paid to the petitioner. The award was made more than

five years prior to the commencement of the 2013 Act. All the ingredients of

section 24(2) of the 2013 Act as interpreted by the Supreme Court and this

Court in the following decisions stand satisfied:-

(i) Pune Municipal Corporation and Anr v.

Harakchand Misirimal Solanki and Ors: (2014) 3 SCC 183;

(ii) Union of India and Ors v. Shiv Raj and Ors:

(2014) 6 SCC 564;

(iii) Sree Balaji Nagar Residential Association v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors: Civil Appeal No. 8700/2013 decided on 10.09.2014;

* Corrected vide order dated 11.11.2014 passed in CM 18157/2014 in WP(C) 3062/2014. ** Corrected vide order dated 11.11.2014 passed in CM 18157/2014 in WP(C) 3062/2014.

(iv) Surinder Singh vs. Union of India and Ors.:

W.P.(C) 2294/2014 decided 12.09.2014 by this Court.

3. As a result the petitioner is entitled to a declaration that the said

acquisition proceedings initiated under the 1894 Act in respect of the subject

lands are deemed to have lapsed. It is so declared.

4. The writ petition is allowed to the aforesaid extent. There shall be no

order as to costs.

BADAR DURREZ AHMED, J

SIDDHARTH MRIDUL, J SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 dn