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NON-REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL ORIGINAL/APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CONMT.PET.(C) No. 281-282 OF 2014  IN  

SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) NOs. 34794-34795 OF 2011

DELHI DEVT.AUTHORITY                     Petitioner(s)                                 VERSUS

SUNIL KATHURIA & ORS                     Respondent(s) WITH

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 9220 OF 2014 [ARISING OUT OF SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) NO. 15796  

OF 2014]

J U D G M E N T

ANIL R. DAVE, J. CONMT.PET.(C) No. 281-282 OF 2014 IN   SPECIAL LEAVE    PETITION (C) NOs. 34794-34795 OF 2011

Mr.  Sunil  Kathuria,  Chairman,  Kathuria  Public  School Educational and Charitable Society, is present  in this Court and he has tendered his unconditional  and absolute apology for not vacating the premises in  question in spite of the order passed  by this Court.  

The apology is accepted.   He has further stated that he is deemed to have  

handed  over  possession  of  the  land  in  question

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including  the  premises  constructed  thereon  on  30.04.2013,  as  per  his  undertaking  given  to  this  Court on 09.12.2011.   

At  present,  Kathuria  Public  School  is  being  managed by Sh. Rakesh Khanna, learned senior counsel,  in pursuance of this Court's order dated 01.08.2014.  He shall continue to look after the management of the  school till 30.04.2015 or till final decision, which  might be rendered by the High Court in Writ Petition  (C) No. 2009 of 2014, whichever is earlier.      

Mr. Rakesh Khanna, learned senior counsel, had  been appointed as an Administrator to look after the  management of Kathuria Public School and hence, he  shall be paid an honorarium of Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees  One Lac only) per month till 30.04.2015 from the day  he  was  appointed  as  such.   The  said  honorarium  (excluding  the  expenditure  which  might  have  been  incurred by him for the purpose of administration of  the school) shall be paid by Kathuria Public School  Educational and Charitable Society.

In  view  of  the  above  order,  the  Contempt  Petition (C) Nos. 281-282 of 2014 are disposed of.

**************

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CIVIL APPEAL NO. 9220 OF 2014 [ARISING OUT OF SPECIAL  LEAVE PETITION (C) NO. 15796 OF 2014]

Leave granted.   Heard the learned senior counsel appearing for the  

appellants  as  well  as  the  school  administrator  appointed by this Court.   

Mr. Sunita Sharma, learned counsel, accepts notice  on behalf of Union of India and Mr. Ashwani Kumar,  learned  counsel,  accepts  notice  on  behalf  of  Delhi  Development Authority (DDA).   

Upon hearing the learned counsel for either side  and upon perusing the impugned Judgment, we find that  the High Court did not decide the Writ Petition, being  W.P.(C) No. 2009 of 2014 and CM. Application No. 4193  of 2014 on merits, for the reason that the contempt  petitions were pending in this Court and possession of  the land in question had not been handed over by the  appellants to the respondent – DDA.   

Since  the  contempt  petitions  have  now  been  disposed of and possession of the land in question has  also  been  taken  over  by  Mr.  Rakesh  Khanna,  learned  senior  counsel,  on  behalf  of  DDA,  the  reasons  for  which the writ petition was not decided on merits by  the High Court do not exist today.   

In these circumstances, we quash and set aside the  impugned  Judgment  delivered  by  the  High  Court  and

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remand the matter to the High Court so that the writ  petition can be decided on merits.   

Looking  at  the  peculiar  facts  of  the  case,  we  desire  that  the  High  Court  should  decide  the  writ  petition, preferably by 30th December, 2014 because at  present,  the  school  is  being  run  on  the  land  in  question and the school is permitted to continue only  till 30th April, 2015, unless the petition filed by the  appellants challenging the validity of the acquisition  is allowed.    

We have been informed by the learned counsel that  all  matters  which  pertain  to  release  of  land  in  question in pursuance of Section 24(2) of the Right to  Fair Compensation & Transparency in Land Acquisition,  Rehabilitation & Resettlement Act, 2013, are pending  before a Division Bench in Court No. 2 in the High  Court.   Therefore,  the  learned  counsel  for  the  appellants is permitted to mention this matter before  the High Court in Court No. 2 so that the matter can  be taken up for hearing at an early date.      

The learned counsel appearing for either side have  assured this Court that their counterparts appearing  in  the  High  Court  shall  extend  their  cooperation,  without praying for unnecessary adjournments, so that  the writ petition can be disposed of by the High Court  within the stipulated time.

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With the above observations and directions, the  Civil Appeal is disposed of as allowed with no order  as to costs.   

.......................J.               [ANIL R. DAVE]  

.......................J.              [VIKRAMAJIT SEN]  

New Delhi; September 17, 2014.

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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CONMT.PET.(C) No. 281-282 OF 2014  IN  

SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) No. 34794-34795 OF 2011 STATEMENT OF SH. SUNIL KATHURIA,  S/O LATE SH. RAM SARUP KATHURIA

AGED 56 YRS R/O A-46, KIRTI NAGAR NEW DELHI – 110 015.  

ON SA I tender my unconditional and absolute apology for  

what I have done.    

–-------------- R.O & A.C. 17.09.2014

.......................J.               [ANIL R. DAVE ]  

.......................J.               [VIKRAMAJIT SEN]  

New Delhi; September 17, 2014.