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V. Krishnamurthy & Anr. v. State of Tamil Nadu & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 398Decided 26 Mar 2019
Civil Appeal Nos. 7703-7704 of 2009
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Background

The Tamil Nadu government had allotted land to an Agricultural Horticultural Society in 1980, but later resumed the land in 1989 for a stated public purpose (sports facilities and horticulture development). The Society and its Secretary challenged the resumption as politically motivated (mala fide), alleging it targeted them for being linked to the opposition party; a single judge of the Madras High Court agreed and quashed the resumption, but a Division Bench reversed this and upheld the resumption order, leading to the present appeals before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the allegation of mala fides was not factually or legally substantiated, being based only on a bare claim of political rivalry without supporting material. It noted that the land belonged to the State, that the allotment agreement itself allowed resumption for public purpose, and that the State had exercised this right for a stated public purpose, giving no legal infirmity in the resumption order apart from the unproven mala fides plea. The Court concurred with the Division Bench's decision upholding the resumption, dismissed the appeals, but noted that certain disparaging remarks the Division Bench had made about the appellants were irrelevant to the actual controversy and that the State must ensure the land is used only for the stated public purpose.

Lesson Learnt

A claim that a government action was politically motivated ("mala fide") must be backed by concrete evidence, not mere assertion of political affiliation; courts will not strike down an otherwise lawful exercise of a contractual/statutory right (such as resumption of allotted land for a stated public purpose) on an unsubstantiated allegation of bad faith.

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

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