The Delhi High Court imposed ₹1 lakh in costs on the Delhi government on 6 November 2026 over its handling of Central Footwear Co.’s application for an alternative industrial plot. Justice Amit Mahajan directed the government to pay the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee within six weeks and recover the amount from the salaries of the officers responsible.
Why the company returned to court
Central Footwear applied for an alternative industrial plot under the 1996 Relocation Scheme. In 2009, the High Court set aside the first rejection after the authorities acknowledged that the company’s unit in Mundka was in a non-conforming area. The court directed them to process the application and communicate a decision within two months.
In 2017, the court directed the authorities to verify a sales tax registration certificate and process the application if the certificate was authenticated. The company returned to court in 2024, and the authorities rejected the claim again that August.
What the court directed
Justice Mahajan said the 2009 order had become final and that officials had produced no contemporaneous records to support their later claim that the earlier statement was incorrect. The court imposed costs while the challenge to the 2024 rejection remained pending and listed the case for 9 February 2027.
Case Central Footwear Co. v. Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi & Anr., W.P.(C) 16614/2024, order dated 6 November 2026.
Photo by Surance via Wikimedia Commons, cropped, CC BY-SA 4.0.