Case: Govt. Of Nct Of Delhi Vs. Manav Dharam Trust

operation of a subsequent legislation, the acquisition proceedings have lapsed.24. In all the decisions cited by the learned Senior Counsel for the appellants, which we have referred to above, this Court has protected the rights of the subsequent purchaser to claim compensation, being a person interested in the compensation, despite holding that they have no locus standi to challenge the acquisition proceedings.25. The 2013 Act has made a sea change in the approach on the acquisition of land and compensation thereof. The only lapse under the 1894 Act was under Section 11A where what would lapse is the ... "entire proceedings for the acquisition of land" whereas under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act, what gets lapsed is the land acquisition proceedings initiated under the 1894 Act which has culminated in passing of an award under Section 11 but where either possession was not taken or compensation was not paid within five years prior to 01.01.2014. In other words, the land acquisition proceedings contemplated under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act would take in both, payment of compensation and taking of possession within the five year period prior to 01.01.2014. If either of them is not satisfied, the entire land acquisition proceedings would lapse under the deeming provision. The impact of deemed lapse under Section 24(2) is that pervasive. To quote R.F. Nariman, J. in Delhi Development Authority v. Sukbhir Singh and others, 2016(4) R.C.R.(Civil) 407 : 2016(5) Recent Apex Judgments (R.A.J.) 369 : (2016) 8 SCALE 655. To quote:"... As is well settled, a deeming fiction is enacted so that a putative state of affairs must be imagined, the mind not being allowed to boggle at the logical consequence of such putative state of affairs ... In fact, Section 24(2) uses the expression "deemed to have lapsed" because the Legislature was cognisant of the fact that, in cases where compensation has not been paid, and physical possession handed over to the State/vesting has taken place, after which land acquisition proceedings could be said to have been ended. ..." (Paragraph-27).Thus, on account of the lapse, the encumbrance created in favour of the State comes to an end, and resultantly, the impediment to encumber the land also comes to an end. Even, according to the appellants, the transfers were illegal and void for the reason that there was an impediment for the transfer. Once the acquisition proceedings lapse, all impediments cease to exist.26. As we have already noted above, the whole face of land acquisition has changed by the 2013 Act. Section 105 of the 2013 Act has provided that the provisions of the Act shall not apply to the enactments specified in the Fourth Schedule. So far, only 13 Acts have been notified under the Fourth Schedule. Neither The Delhi Development Act, 1957 nor The Delhi Lands (Restrictions on Transfers) Act, 1972 is included in the Fourth Schedule.27. The main purpose of the 2013 Act is clearly stated in the preamble which reads as follows :-"An Act to ensure, in consultation with institutions of local self-government and Gram Sabhas established under the Constitution, a humane, participative, informed and transparent process for land acquisition for industrialisation, development of essential infrastructural facilities and urbanisation with the least disturbance to the owners of the land and other affected families and provide just and fair compensation to the affected families whose land has been acquired or proposed to be acquired or are affected by such acquisition and make adequate provisions for such affected persons for their rehabilitation and resettlement and for ensuring that the cumulative outcome of compulsory acquisition should be that affected persons become partners in development leading to an improvement in their post acquisition social and economic status and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto."There is a clear indication that the Act proposes to protect the interest of those persons, among others who are affected by the acquisition. The subsequent purchasers/successors, etc., in the cases before us, are all people affected by the acquisition, and therefore, also they are entitled to seek a declaration on lapse under the 2013 Act.28. The High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru in Suryaprakash and others v. State of Karnataka and others, Writ Petition No. 10286-291 of 2014, decided on 05.12.2016 has considered a situation of lapse and locus standi of the subsequent purchaser to file a writ petition for a declaration on lapse, though not under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act. At paragraph-16, it has been held:"16. ... the principle that transferee of land after the publication of preliminary notification cannot maintain a writ petition challenging the acquisition, cannot be made applicable to a case where the acquisition itself has been abandoned and has stood lapsed due to efflux of time on account of the omission and inaction on the part of the acquiring authority, particularly because, it is because of the lapse of time and the abandonment of the acquisition, right accrues to the original owner to deal with his property including by way of the sale and the purchaser will acquire right to protect his interest. Hence, the judgment in the case of Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation v. Subhash Sindhi Cooperative Housing Society, Jaipur and others (2013) 5 SCC 427 , will have no application to the facts of the present case."We are of the view that this decision, in principle, applies to the facts of these appeals as well.29. Thus, the subsequent purchaser, the assignee, the successor in interest, the power of attorney, etc., are all persons who are interested in compensation/land owners/affected persons in terms of the 2013 Act and such persons are entitled to file a case for a declaration that the land acquisition proceedings have lapsed by virtue of operation of Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act. It is a declaration qua the land wherein indisputably they have an interest and they are affected by such acquisition. For such a declaration, it cannot be said that the respondents/writ petitioners do not have any locus standi.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]4. At the outset, we may note that in these cases, the land acquisition proceedings have otherwise lapsed by the operation of Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act since either compensation was not paid or possession was not taken within five years prior to 01.01.2014, the date of coming into force of the 2013 Act. Thus, the dispute is only on the locus standi.It is also to be specifically noted that the challenge made by the writ petitioners in the Miscellaneous Application filed by them is not to the acquisition or to the regularity of the process of acquisition including the taking of possession. Their only prayer is for a declaration that the proceedings qua the land referred to in the Application have lapsed by virtue of the operation of Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act.22. All the decisions cited by the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellants, no doubt, have categorically held that the subsequent purchasers do not have locus standi to challenge the acquisition proceedings. But in the present case, the challenge is not to the acquisition proceeding; it is only for a declaration that the acquisition proceedings have lapsed in view of the operation of Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act, and therefore, the ratio in those cases has no application to these cases.23. It is one thing to say that there is a challenge to the legality or propriety or validity of the acquisition proceedings and yet another thing to say that by virtue of operation of a subsequent legislation, the acquisition proceedings have lapsed.24. In all the decisions cited by the learned Senior Counsel for the appellants, which we have referred to above, this Court has protected the rights of the subsequent purchaser to claim compensation, being a person interested in the compensation, despite holding that they have no locus standi to challenge the acquisition proceedings.As we have already noted above, the whole face of land acquisition has changed by the 2013 Act. Section 105 of the 2013 Act has provided that the provisions of the Act shall not apply to the enactments specified in the Fourth Schedule. So far, only 13 Acts have been notified under the Fourth Schedule. Neither The Delhi Development Act, 1957 nor The Delhi Lands (Restrictions on Transfers) Act, 1972 is included in the Fourth Schedule.Thus, the subsequent purchaser, the assignee, the successor in interest, the power of attorney, etc., are all persons who are interested in compensation/land owners/affected persons in terms of the 2013 Act and such persons are entitled to file a case for a declaration that the land acquisition proceedings have lapsed by virtue of operation of Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act. It is a declaration qua the land wherein indisputably they have an interest and they are affected by such acquisition. For such a declaration, it cannot be said that the respondents/writ petitioners do not have any locus standi.We make it clear that we have not gone into the inter se disputes between the parties in some cases or other claims regarding the ownership.