P&H HC Condonates Landowner’s 7,196-Day Appeal Delay, But Dismisses Compensation Challenge And Denies Interest And Statutory Benefits For That Period

The appellant sought condonation of 7,196 days’ delay in filing and 440 days’ delay in refiling an appeal against the Reference Court’s award dated 3 December 2001.

He attributed the delay to a misplaced brief.

The appeal concerned land acquired under the same notification as in RFA-754-2024, in which this Court had dismissed the appeals on grounds of delay and merits.

The appellant’s counsel did not dispute the applicability of that decision.

Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 permits condonation of delay.

In land-acquisition matters, the Supreme Court authorities cited by the Court support a liberal, justice-oriented approach to condonation, so that delay alone does not defeat a landowner’s claim to just compensation (Suresh Kumar v. State of Haryana, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 896; Urban Improvement Trust v. Vidhya Devi, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 3725).

However, under New Okhla Industrial Development Authority v. Rameshwar @ Ramesh Chandra Sharma, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1599, an acquiring body or beneficiary should not be liable for statutory benefits and interest attributable to the period of delay.

Applying the liberal approach endorsed in the cited Supreme Court decisions, the Court condoned both delays despite their length.

It balanced that relief by excluding statutory benefits and interest for the periods of delay—7,196 days in filing and 440 days in refiling—in accordance with New Okhla Industrial Development Authority.

On the appeal itself, the Court accepted that the land was acquired under the same notification considered in RFA-754-2024 and, as the appellant did not contest that decision’s applicability, dismissed the appeal in its terms.

The appeal was dismissed in terms of the judgment dated 9 September 2026 in RFA-754-2024.

Any pending miscellaneous applications were also disposed of.