The Delhi High Court issued notice of contempt to the Land Acquisition Collector (North) and the Vice Chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) after recording serious displeasure over non-compliance with its earlier directions regarding payment of land acquisition compensation.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Anish Dayal noted that despite its order dated August 18, 2025, the compensation had neither been paid to the petitioners nor deposited with the Court.
The Bench observed that the conduct of the respondents reflected “utter disrespect and disregard” of the Court’s directions. While the Standing Counsel for the Land Acquisition Collector submitted that funds had been requisitioned from the user department, namely the DDA, the Court found no material or firm commitment on record to substantiate the claim.
Taking the view that the respondents appeared to have no intention of complying with the Court’s earlier orders, the Bench issued notice of contempt to the Land Acquisition Collector (North) as well as the Vice Chairman of the DDA, making the notice returnable on January 19, 2026. The Court directed the Standing Counsel for the LAC to communicate the order to the concerned authority and similarly directed counsel for the petitioners to inform the Vice Chairman, DDA.
The matters have been re-notified for further hearing on January 19, 2026.
Appearances:
For the Petitioners: Mr. Siddharth Batra, Mr. Chinmay Dubey, Ms. Shivani Chawla and Ms. Archna Yadav, Advocates
For the Respondents: Ms. Arunima Dwivedi, CGSC with Ms. Himanshi Singh and Ms. Monalisha Pradhan, Advocates for R- 1/UOI
Mr. Siddharth Panda, Mr. Ritank Kumar and Mr. Anil Pandey, Advocates for R-2 to R-4.
Mr. Sanjay Kumar Pathak, Standing Counsel for R-LAC/LAB/GNCTD with Mr. Sunil Kumar Jha and Mr. M.S. Akhtar, Advocates.
Ms. Manika Tripathy, Standing Counsel for R-DDA with Mr. Ashutosh Kaushik, Advocate.
