Shakuntala vs. State of Karnataka & Others
Background
In 1957, agricultural land in Karnataka was granted to a Scheduled Caste farmer, Somalanayak, with a condition barring its sale for 15 years. He nonetheless sold it in 1964, and the land changed hands three more times before the appellant, Shakuntala, bought it in 2001. Only in 2007-43 years after the original sale: did Somalanayak's son apply under the 1978 Act to have all the sales declared void and the land restored to his family, and the authorities and the Karnataka High Court ultimately ruled in his favour.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that even though the 1978 Act does not fix a time limit for seeking restoration of such land, its earlier decisions have consistently held that such applications must be made within a reasonable time, and delays of even 16-25 years have been held fatal in past cases. Here the delay was 43 years from the original sale and 18 years from when the grantee's son became an adult, with the land having passed through four sets of owners in the meantime; the appellant was an innocent purchaser who had even obtained a bank loan against the property after due diligence. The Court held the Karnataka authorities and High Court took an overly rigid approach in ignoring this delay, and set aside the orders directing restoration, allowing the appeal.
Lesson Learnt
Even a legal protection with no written time limit cannot be invoked after decades of inaction: a beneficiary must act within a reasonable time, and long, unexplained delay can defeat even a claim under a protective land law, especially against an innocent later purchaser.