The Supreme Court has intervened in a longstanding land acquisition dispute, remitting the case to the Uttarakhand High Court for a fair and expeditious resolution. The origins of the case date back to 1992 when the Uttarakhand High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by the appellant, challenging the 1987 land acquisition by the respondents. Asserting continuous possession of the land, the appellant sought restoration of the writ petition.

The appellant faced setbacks as the restoration application languished unaddressed, leading to another application for the restoration of the initial plea. The Uttarakhand High Court rejected the latter restoration request, citing a purported seven-year delay. However, with the representations made by Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave for the appellant and AOR N. Visakamurthy for the respondents, the Supreme Court disagreed with the High Court's assessment.

Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta opined that the application for restoration was, in fact, filed within a month, contrary to the High Court's claim of a seven-year delay. The Supreme Court set aside the High Court's decisions and directed the Uttarakhand High Court to restore the writ petition promptly. The court emphasized the need for a thorough examination of the case on its merits, providing an opportunity for all concerned parties to present their arguments. 

Therefore, the appeals were granted, resulting in the reinstatement of the case, and the High Court was instructed to proceed with a full evaluation and decision based on the merits of the matter.

Case: J.N. Puri v. State of Uttar Pradesh (Now State of Uttarakhand),

CIVIL APPEAL NO(S). OF 2024 (Arising out of SLP(Civil) No(s). of 2024)
(Diary No(s). 24776/2020).

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Click here to read/download judgment.