The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a long-pending land dispute petition and imposed Rs 10,000 in costs after discovering that the original litigation was instituted in 1993 on behalf of a person who had died five years prior.
Justice E.S. Indresh ruled that the initial petition and all subsequent judicial directions were legally void because the power of attorney used to initiate the action had expired upon the litigant’s death in 1988. The ruling effectively restores the finality of a 1981 administrative decision that granted tenancy occupancy rights over 4.21 acres of land to another party.
Decades of Litigation Declared Void
The controversy involves 4.21 acres located in Belavadi village within Srirangapatna taluk. On November 9, 1981, the Srirangapatna Land Tribunal granted occupancy rights for the parcel to a tenant, C. Ningamma.
That determination was subsequently contested before the High Court, which remanded the case back to the Land Tribunal in 2001. However, the court found that the 1993 challenge had been initiated under the name of Mariyappa, who died in 1988. Because a power of attorney automatically terminates when the grantor dies, the petition was invalid from its inception.
Heirs’ Claims Rejected by Court
Mariyappa’s legal heirs—identified as his daughters Sumalamma, Tulasamma, and Venkatalakshmamma—had filed a fresh writ petition questioning a March 2023 order issued by the Land Tribunal. They contended that the tribunal had committed procedural irregularities and issued its decision without their knowledge.
Rejecting those contentions, Justice Indresh observed that under legal principles established by the Supreme Court of India, any court orders stemming from the improper 1993 filing were rendered a complete nullity in law.
Concluding that the fresh petition lacked merit, the court dismissed the plea with financial penalties and confirmed that the Land Tribunal’s original 1981 decision in favour of Ningamma stands as final.
