Delhi court orders DDA to process 1,373 freehold conversion applications

The Delhi High Court has mandated that the DDA must process all pending leasehold-to-freehold conversion applications within two months, rejecting a four-month timeline proposed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The court noted that MoHUA and the DDA had failed to finalize a conversion policy despite repeated orders since July 3, 2026, and expressed dissatisfaction with an affidavit that lacked a concrete timeline. It stated that pending applications should be processed under the prevalent policy, while any new policy would apply only to future applications.

Pending applications and financial collection

As of September 28, 2026, a total of 1,373 applications filed between 2020 and 2026 remain unresolved. The DDA has already collected Rs 155.06 crore in conversion charges from residents for these pending cases. Of the total pending applications, 308 had received approval but their conveyance deeds had not been executed. The court order was passed by Justices Prathiba M Singh and Vikas Mahajan.

Portal outage and procedural delays

Procedural delays have been exacerbated by the failure of the DDA's official application portal. The IDLI portal, which allows for the submission of conversion applications, has been non-functional since January 2, 2026. This technical outage has left residents unable to submit new applications for months, compounding the bureaucratic backlog.

Policy delays and legal implications

The court criticized the ongoing policy impasse. The secretary of MoHUA had initially stated that the ministry and DDA would require four months to finalize the policy, with a minimum of two months. The bench found this unacceptable, noting that accepting the four-month timeline would adjourn the entire matter until December 2026 or January 2027, causing a full year of delay. The court referenced a 2012 ruling in the case of Neera Sharma v. DDA regarding charge collection and emphasized the enormous difficulties faced by Delhi residents due to the non-processing of applications for eight months.

The court clarified that lessees can still transfer, gift, inherit, or mortgage their properties despite pending conversions. It found no clarity on documentation or conversion charges in the minutes of a key meeting held on August 14, 2026, and stated that the basic mechanism for property transfer had not been properly explained. The DDA was represented by Standing Counsel Ms. Mrinalini Sen and Ms. Gauri Rajput, while the respondents were represented by Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma and others. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on December 11, 2026, where the MoHUA secretary and DDA vice-chairman must appear to address the policy timeline.