In Brief
In 1911–1912, land in Raisina village (now Lutyens' Delhi) was acquired. The fourth-generation descendants filed a writ petition in 2017, over 105 years later, claiming compensation was never paid and invoking Section 24(2) of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act to declare the acquisition lapsed. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition on grounds of delay and laches. It held that Section 24(2) cannot revive stale, dead, or legally barred claims; it protects only those genuinely deprived of compensation on live causes of action. Where compensation was tendered but deliberately not collected over generations, and third-party interests have vested, the acquisition cannot lapse. The court found abuse of process and imposed costs.
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