In 2007, a company paid around Rs. 165 crore for a commercial plot in New Delhi at a public auction held by the DDA. It paid stamp duty and continued to pay property tax for a decade. Over a decade later, it found that DDA never validly acquired the land it sold. The Supreme Court on April 29 ordered the DDA to refund full sale consideration with interest and used the case to say that when a government agency auctions land on which its own acquisition has lapsed, the buyer is entitled to a full refund. The agency cannot hold the money by raising technical defences. The ruling addresses what happens when government agencies sell what they do not legally own and what recourse the buyer has when that unravels. How land acquisition works When the government acquires private land for public purposes, it is required to compensate the original landowners. If it does not, the acquisition can lapse.…