The Delhi High Court, comprising Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Dinesh Bhatt, has directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to process all pending applications for conversion of properties from leasehold to freehold and take decisions on them within two months.

The Court expressed dissatisfaction with the status of the conversion process, observing that despite several directions issued since July 2026, no concrete policy had been framed and the latest affidavit filed on behalf of the Government did not indicate any definite timeline for formulation of the policy.

The Court noted that the DDA had already collected substantial amounts towards conversion from applicants whose applications continued to remain pending. The proceedings indicated that 613 conversion requests had been received through the DDA portal, while amounts exceeding ₹155 crore had already been collected in respect of pending applications.

The Court observed that the authorities could not keep the conversion process stalled while deliberating on a new policy. It accordingly directed that all pending conversion applications be processed under the prevalent policy applicable on the date of the respective application, with decisions to be taken within two months.

As regards fresh applications, the Court directed that the conversion portal be enabled/relaunched. The proposed new policy for future applications is to be formulated and placed before the Court by December 11, 2026.

The Court also made it clear that the authorities must provide a definite framework rather than merely setting out the factors that would be considered while framing the policy, noting that the absence of a policy since January 2026 had effectively brought leasehold-to-freehold conversion of properties in Delhi to a standstill.