Stale & Virtually Dead Claim: Karnataka HC Refuses Plea Seeking Initiation Of Proceedings Under RFCTLARR Act In A 44 Year Old Land Acquisition Case

The Court said that the right to relief is lost and the jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution is not liable to be exercised to entertain the stale and virtually dead claim.

The Court was hearing an appeal filed under Section 4 of the Karnataka High Court Act, 1961. The appeal is directed against the judgment and order of the Single Judge.

The bench of Chief Justice N.V. Anjaria and Justice K.V. Aravind observed, “Forty four years is too long a time to maintain legal action. With passage of such protracted time, the right to relief is lost. The jurisdictional Article 226 of the Constitution is not liable to be exercised to entertain the stale and a virtually dead claim.”

Advocate D.N. Manjunath appeared for the appellant and Additional Government Advocate Niloufer Akbar appeared for the respondent.

In the Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution, the petitioner requested the Court to obtain records related to the proceedings initiated by the respondent in Land Acquisition Cases. Additionally, the petitioner sought a directive for the respondents to commence proceedings and issue an award under Section 11 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, 2013.

The Court noted that when the Court questioned the appellant on huge and inordinate delay, he could only point out that he came to know for the first time in the last week of December 2018 that the compensation was not paid.

The Court further noted that after the petitioner claimed that he knew in the year 2018, there was a delay of three years.

Accordingly, the Court dismissed the Petition.