Full Judgment Text
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NON-REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 5395 OF 2016
[ @ SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) NO. 24110 OF 2014 ]
SURENDRA KUMAR GUPTA AND ORS Appellant(s)
VERSUS
STATE OF U P AND ANR Respondent(s)
J U D G M E N T
KURIAN, J.
1. Leave granted.
2. The appellants are aggrieved by the impugned
Judgment and order dated 05.08.2014 passed by the
High Court of Allahabad in Writ Petition (C) No.
39957 of 2014.
3. In the nature of the order we propose to pass, it
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is not necessary to go into the factual matrix.
4. The appellants took up the contention that by
virtue of the operation of Section 24(2) of the Right
to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act,
2013 (in short, "the Act"), the whole acquistion
proceedings initiated by the first respondent in
respect of the appellants' property have lapsed. The
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High Court declined to go into this aspect, stating
that it is a belated contention.
5. In the facts of this case, we are of the view
that the High Court was not justified in declining to
consider this aspect. After all, the Act itself was
introduced only on 01.01.2014. Obviously, the
contention regarding operation of Section 24(2) of
the Act can be advanced only thereafter.
6. In the above circumstances, we set aside the
impugned Judgment and remit the matter to the High
Court to consider as to whether acquisition
proceedings have lapsed by virtue of operation of
Section 24(2) of the Act.
7. Needless to say that it will be open to the
parties to raise all available contentions on the
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factual aspect of lapse and file additional
documents.
8. The interim order passed by this Court shall
continue till the writ petition is disposed of afresh
by the High Court.
9. We request the High Court to dispose of the writ
petition expeditiously and preferably before the end
of this year.
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10. In view of the above observations and directions,
the appeal is disposed of.
No costs.
.......................J.
[ KURIAN JOSEPH ]
.......................J.
[ ROHINTON FALI NARIMAN ]
New Delhi;
June 29, 2016.
JUDGMENT
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