The Delhi High Court stayed enforcement of a decree favouring the Centre in a dispute over Sujan Singh Park, holding that questions about whether the government could re-enter and resume the land under the Government Grants Act 1895 raise substantial issues that deserve a full appeal, especially given the family's possession since 1943. Eviction was paused pending the outcome of the appeal.
What this changes for a title check
Government grant land, where the original title traces back to a colonial-era or post-Independence grant from the government rather than a private sale, carries a distinct risk that ordinary sale-deed diligence misses: the government can retain a re-entry or resumption right under the Government Grants Act 1895 even after decades of possession and transfers, and that right can resurface in litigation long after a title otherwise looks settled. A title check on any property with a government-grant origin, not just Sujan Singh Park, should specifically pull the original grant deed and check its conditions, since a breach of those conditions can be the basis for the government to reclaim the land regardless of how long the family has held possession.
This case also shows that 80-plus years of continuous possession is not, by itself, a defence against a resumption claim once the government asserts a grant-condition breach. It confirms only that a first-round decree against the possessor does not necessarily end the matter, since an appellate court can still stay eviction while the underlying grant dispute is examined in full.