In Brief
The petitioner sought to enforce a clause in a Sale Deed with NOIDA (executed in 2001) entitling him to allotment of 10% land, but did not pursue the claim until 2010. He filed a writ petition in 2011, over a decade later. The High Court dismissed it, holding that writ petitions cannot enforce contracts and that 16 years' delay was fatal. The Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal, holding that no writ under Article 226 can enforce specific performance of a contract, particularly after such long delay—when even a suit for specific performance would be barred by limitation. The Court emphasised that delay and laches are fatal to maintainability of writ petitions and that mere representation to an authority does not extend the period of limitation.
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