In a batch of writ petitions filed before the Delhi High Court regarding the lack of staff at the offices of the Land Acquisition Collector, a Division Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Vikas Mahajan directed the Secretary, Services Department, to file a status report on the same within two weeks and to post 4-5 staff members to the Revenue Department for posting with the LAC offices as an interim measure.
By an order dated 07-02-2026, the Court had taken serious note of the fact that the Land Acquisition Collector’s (LAC) office is severely short staffed and that there were several vacancies therein. It was stated that there was a lag in providing instructions in matters listed before the Court, that affidavits are not filed on time, and that counsels are also not given instructions on time. It was noted that the verification of records is also delayed leading to years of delays in payment of compensation, processing of reference applications, etc., which ultimately leads to writ petitions before the Court on a daily basis.
Hence, by the said order, the Secretary, Services, GNCTD, was directed to look into the matter and filed a status report regarding the same. As an interim measure, the Services Department stated that it was in the process of posting 15 Assistant Section Officers (ASO) in the Revenue Department for posting in LAC to tackle the issue of short staff.
The Court perused a letter dated 30-07-2026 by the Secretary (Revenue)-cum-Divisional Commissioner and found that as far as the LAC office is concerned, there was hardly any staff in all the districts and that the number of the officials were almost NIL or zero in most districts whereas in some, the number of staff is in single digits.
It was stated that land acquisition matters affect the citizens’ rights substantially since compensation claims are not processed for several years even though the land is acquired for infrastructural projects. The Court said that posting of staff is critical for the functioning of the LAC office and to deal with matters pending in courts. It was opined that the government needed to take immediate steps for posting in LAC offices.
The Court noted that at least 10 people would be required in each district, which was almost NIL as on date. Hence, the Secretary, Services Department was directed to file a status report after posting at least 4-5 staff members for each District to the Revenue Department as an interim measure so that they are posted with LAC offices and to give a timeline for taking steps for regular recruitment of officials for LAC offices. The Services Department were also directed to file a status report in respect of a communication dated 30-07-2026 for posting of staff to the Revenue Department within two weeks.
The matter will now be listed on 09-09-2026.
