Land & Building Department through Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi and ANR. Vs. Gautam Chopra & Ors.
[Civil Appeal No. 123 of 2017 @ Special Leave Petition (C) No. 391 of 2017 @ Special Leave Petition (C)......CC No. 4790 of 2016]
[Civil Appeal No. 124 of 2017 @ Special Leave Petition (C) No. 392 of 2017 @ Special Leave Petition (C)......CC No. 4942 of 2016]
[Civil Appeal No. 125 of 2017 @ Special Leave Petition (C) No. 393 of 2017 @ Special Leave Petition (C)......CC No. 8077 of 2016]
KURIAN, J.
1. Delay condoned. Leave granted.
2. The issue, in principle, is covered against the appellants by judgments in Civil Appeal No. 8477 of 2016 arising out of Special Leave Petition(C) No. 8467 of 2015 and Civil Appeal No. 5811 of 2015 arising out of Special Leave Petition (C) No. 21545 of 2015. The appeals filed by the requisitioning authority, namely the Delhi Development Authority, have already been dismissed by this Court.
3. These appeals are, accordingly, dismissed.
4. In the peculiar facts and circumstances of these cases, the appellants are given a period of one year to exercise its liberty granted under Section 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.
5. 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 appellants, if in possession, shall return the physical possession of the land to the original land owner. Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.
No costs.
.......................J. [KURIAN JOSEPH]
.......................J. [A. M. KHANWILKAR]
New Delhi;
January 05, 2017.
