Communication to last recorded address is valid where allottee fails to intimate change of address or demise.

The Appellant’s late husband, Shri Sadhu Singh, applied for an EWS category plot from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in 1983

He sold the address provided in the application in 1990 and subsequently passed away in 1996

The Appellant migrated to the UK in 2000

In 2012, the DDA conducted a draw of lots, and in 2014, it dispatched a Demand-cum-Allotment Letter for Plot No. 1219, Rohini, to the address on record

The letter was returned unserved

Neither the deceased nor the Appellant had informed the DDA of the change of address or the death

The Appellant discovered the allotment through a property dealer in 2019 and filed a Writ Petition in 2020

The learned Single Judge dismissed the petition on grounds of delay, laches, and the DDA’s lack of fault

The Appellant challenged this via the present Letters Patent Appeal.

1. Whether the Respondent (DDA) was under a legal obligation to conduct an inquiry to locate the allottee’s current address when the allotment letter sent to the last known address was returned unserved

2. Whether the allotment made in the name of a deceased individual, where the death was not communicated to the authority, remains valid or enforceable by the legal heir

3. Whether the Appellant’s claim was barred by the doctrine of delay and laches

an allottee bears a proactive obligation to communicate any change in residential status or address to the allotment authority

doctrine of delay and laches, which precludes discretionary relief under Article 226 if the petitioner fails to exercise due diligence over a protracted period

an allotment issued to a deceased individual is invalid if the authority was not notified of the demise

The Court observed that the DDA fulfilled its procedural duties by dispatching the Demand-cum-Allotment Letter to the address provided in the 1983 application

The Court rejected the Appellant's contention that a person cannot be expected to reside at one address for 30 years, holding instead that the onus of updating records lies solely on the applicant/allottee

Since the property was sold in 1990 and the death occurred in 1996 without any intimation to the DDA for decades, the authority was justified in its actions

The Court further reasoned that the allotment was technically invalid as it was made to a dead person due to the Appellant’s failure to notify the DDA of her husband’s demise

the Court found the Appellant’s lack of effort to check the status of the 1983 application until 2019 constituted an unexplained delay that disentitled her to relief

It held that no fault could be attributed to the DDA for the non-delivery of the allotment letter, as the allottee failed to update his address or status

The Court further held that the automatic cancellation of the allotment for non-payment within the stipulated time was valid

No order as to costs was made