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The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to decide all pending applications to convert property from leasehold to freehold within two months of its 28 September 2026 order. Each application must be assessed under the policy in force when it was filed. The order does not automatically approve applications or reopen the application portal for new ones.
What the Delhi High Court ordered
In Delhi Development Authority v. Mala Sahni Seth & Anr. and connected matters, a division bench directed DDA to process and decide every pending leasehold-to-freehold conversion application within two months from 28 September 2026. The order was delivered by Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Vikas Mahajan; it was uploaded on 30 September 2026. The order keeps the matters part-heard, with the next hearing listed for 11 December 2026.
The two-month period is a deadline for DDA to decide pending applications. It is not a date by which all applicants are guaranteed conversion: DDA must assess each case under the applicable policy and decide it.
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DDA must handle a pending application under the conversion policy that was in force on the date the application was filed. The direction therefore ties the applicable policy to each applicant’s filing date, rather than to a future policy for new applications.
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The order directs DDA to process and decide applications; it does not determine any individual applicant’s eligibility, title, or documentation. Applicants should not read the deadline as an automatic approval or assume that payment alone completes conversion.
Does the order let new applicants apply now?
No reopening date for the Interactive Disposal of Land Information System (IDLI) portal appears in the order. Instead, the court directed that a policy for future applications be formulated and placed before it by the next hearing. That is a prospective policy step, separate from the instruction to decide applications already pending.
The order recorded that the IDLI conversion portal had been non-functional since 2 January 2026 amid an unresolved decision on conversion charges and policy coordination involving DDA and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). The order does not establish whether the portal resumed after it was made.
How many applications and how much money were involved?
The court’s order recorded, based on DDA data placed before it, that 1,373 applications were pending and DDA had collected Rs.155.06 crore in conversion charges in relation to them. These are figures recorded in the proceedings, not a current count or an independently updated accounting.
The court noted that delays affected people seeking to sell or otherwise transact in property, establish title, and complete family settlements. Justice Prathiba M. Singh wrote: “The DDA cannot be permitted to keep this issue pending for such a prolonged period, particularly when nearly seven months have elapsed without any final decision being taken.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happens next?
The matters remain part-heard, and the next hearing was listed for 11 December 2026. The court’s order set out the pending-application deadline and required a future-applications policy to be placed before it by then. The order itself does not confirm whether DDA later met the deadline or what policy was subsequently adopted. For an update on compliance or portal availability, check later Delhi High Court orders and official DDA or MoHUA notices.
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