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Government of Andhra Pradesh v. K. Varalakshmi

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 3673 of 2009)Decided 27 Nov 2014
Civil Appeal No. 3673 of 2009
Justice M.Y. Eqbal · Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre

Background

Purchasers of agricultural land sought a declaration of title and protection against interference by the Government and a development authority. Their chain of title ran from a government assignee through a pre-1977 sale to another landless poor cultivator and a later purchase from his heirs. The State disputed the assignment and relied on statutory restrictions on transferring assigned land.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the State's appeal and upheld the High Court's decree in favour of the purchasers. Section 3(5) of the 1977 Act protected qualifying good-faith purchases by landless poor persons for value before the Act commenced, with possession for cultivation or a house site at commencement. The Court accepted the purchasers' evidence establishing the protected earlier transaction and their subsequent acquisition. The Government had produced no evidence to substantiate its contrary defence. On these established facts, the transactions were saved by the statutory exception.

Lesson Learnt

Restrictions on assigned-land transfers must be considered alongside the precise statutory exception for qualifying earlier purchases. Purchasers relying on that exception need evidence of the protected transaction and possession; an unsupported government denial did not defeat the proved chain here.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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