12. Declaration of development areas and development of land in those and other areas.- (1) As soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, the Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare any area in Delhi to be a development area for the purposes of this Act. PROVIDED that no such declaration shall be made unless a proposal for such declaration has been referred by the Central Government to the Authority and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for expressing their views thereon within thirty days from the date of the receipt of the reference or within such further period as the Central Government may allow and the period so specified or allowed has expired. (2) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the Authority shall not undertake or carry out any development of land in any area which is not a development area. (3) After the commencement of this Act no development of land shall be undertaken or carried out in any area by any person or body (including a department of government) unless,- (i) where that area is a development area, permission for such development has been obtained in writing from the Authority in accordance with the provisions of this Act, (ii) where that area is an area other than a development area, approval of, or sanction for, such development has been obtained in writing from the local authority concerned or any officer or authority thereof empowered or authorised in this behalf, in accordance with the provisions made by or under the law governing such authority or until such provisions have been made, in accordance with the provisions of the regulations relating to the grant of permission for development made under the Delhi (Control of Building Operations) Act, 1955 (53 of 1955), and in force immediately before the commencement of this Act: PROVIDED that the local authority concerned may subject to the provisions of section 53A amend those regulations in their application to such area. (4) After the coming into operation of any of the plans in any area no development shall be undertaken or carried out in that area unless such development is also in accordance with such plans. (5) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-sections (3) and (4), development of any land begun by any department of government or any local authority before the commencement of this Act may be completed by that department or local authority without compliance with the requirements of those sub-sections. | 
