KALIYAMMA Vs. DEPUTY COMMNR CHITRADURGA DISTT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Challenge in these appeals is to the judgment of a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court dismissing the writ appeal filed under Section 4 of the Karnataka High Court Act, 1979 (in short the High Court Act). Challenge in the appeals was to the judgment of the learned Single Judge of the Karnataka High Court.

(2.) Background facts in a nutshell are as follows: Eight acres of land in Survey No.59 were granted to two persons namely Rangappa and Nagappa sons of Kariyappa. According to the appellants, the said Nagappa and Rangappa formed a joint family with one Budappa and in a partition, out of eight acres of joint family lands, five acres were given to Nagappa and three acres were given to Budappa. The said Budappa sold three acres of land to one Thippreeranna by registered sale deed dated 3.2.1965 and remaining five acres of Nagappa were acquired by the vendee in the Court auction on 15.8.1966. Aforesaid Thippreeranna sold eight acres of land under the registered sale deed dated 23.2.1981 in favour of Devraj and the appellants herein are his legal heirs. The Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, 1979 (in short the Act) came into force with effect from 1.1.1979. One Rangaswamy claiming to be the son of grantee Rangappa and one Sanna Karriyamma claiming to be the legal representative of Nagappa filed application for declaration that the sale was null and void and restoration of possession from the purchaser before the Assistant Commissioner, Chitradurga Sub-Division. These applications were clubbed and enquiry was conducted. The Assistant Commissioner came to hold that when the grant was in favour of general category, the allotment was in Form-I and when it is in the name of persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, it is in Form-II.

(3.) It was the stand of the appellants that the grant was made in Form-I and, therefore, the land will not come within the purview of the depressed class category and would be under the general category. Therefore, it was submitted that since they were in possession for more than 12 years from the date the Act came into force they have perfected the title by adverse possession. Legal representatives of the grantee filed appeal under Section 5A of the Act before the Deputy Commissioner. The said Authority allowed the appeal and set aside the order of the Assistant Commissioner holding that in these cases grant has been made during 1957 under the Land Revenue Code and the right of possession in respect of the grantee is limited. It was noticed that there was a condition not to alienate the land in question for a period of 10 years. In these cases the alienation took place much before completion of the ten years period. Since the land was alienated during the non-alienable period, the land vested with the Government. It was also noticed that the period would be 30 years and not 12 years as contented.