Case: V.Chandrasekaran  Vs. Administrative Officer

in RC No. 8222/95/F5, which is purported to have been issued by one K.Muthu, Special Tahsildar (Land Acquisition), and observed that the said proceeding itself stood cancelled and somehow a xerox copy of the said proceeding was obtained by the appellants and they utilised the same to secure permission for sanctioning their plan of construction of flats on the said land. Thus, the appellant have played fraud upon the authorities in order to obtain the said sanction. Even as per the RC No. 8222/95/F5, it is evident that the possession of the suit land was taken over ages ago and therefore, the said suit land was the subject matter of the earlier litigation. 33. The High Court also recorded findings to the effect that the appellants have “managed”, not only to obtain certain orders from the department, but have also misused the process of the court to achieve a sinister design. The court further took note that one of the appellants had filed an additional affidavit before the High Court in a writ petition by way of which, had attempted to mislead the court through furnishing of false information. It has even been admitted at the Bar, that the letter dated 7.7.2005 which was placed on the record by the appellants before the High Court, was in fact, a forged document. 34. The appellants have not approached the court with clean hands, and are therefore, not entitled for any relief. Whenever a person approaches a Court of Equity, in the exercise of its extraordinary jurisdiction, it is expected that he will approach the said court not only with clean hands but also with a clean mind, a clean heart and clean objectives. Thus, he who seeks equity must do equity. The legal maxim “Jure Naturae Aequum Est Neminem cum Alterius Detrimento Et Injuria Fieri Locupletiorem”, means that it is a law of nature that one should not be enriched by causing loss or injury to another. (Vide: The Ramjas Foundation & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., AIR 1993 SC 852 ; Nooruddin v. (Dr.) K.L. Anand, (1995) 1 SCC 242 ; and Ramniklal N. Bhutta & Anr. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors., AIR 1997 SC 1236 ). 35. The judicial process cannot become an instrument of oppression or abuse, or a means in the process of the court to subvert justice, for the reason that the court exercises its jurisdiction, only in furtherance of justice. The interests of justice and public interest coalesce, and therefore, they are very often one and the same. A petition or an affidavit containing a misleading and/or an inaccurate statement, only to achieve an ulterior purpose, amounts to an abuse of process of the court. 36. In Dalip Singh v. State of U.P. & Ors., (2010) 2 SCC 114 , this Court noticed an altogether new creed of litigants, that is, dishonest litigants and went on to strongly deprecate their conduct by observing that, the truth constitutes an integral part of the justice delivery system. The quest for personal gain has become so intense that those involved in litigation do not hesitate to seek shelter of falsehood, misrepresentation and suppression of facts in the course of court proceedings. A litigant who attempts to pollute the stream of justice, or who touches the pure fountain of justice with tainted hands, is not entitled to any relief, interim or final. 37. The truth should be the guiding star in the entire judicial process. “Every trial is a voyage of discovery in which truth is the quest”. An action at law is not a game of chess, therefore, a litigant cannot prevaricate and take inconsistent positions. It is one of those fundamental principles of jurisprudence that litigants must observe total clarity and candour in their pleadings. (Vide: Ritesh Tewari & Anr. v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors., (2010) 10 SCC 677 ; and Amar Singh v. Union of India, (2011) 7 SCC 69 ). 38. In Maria Margarida Sequeria Fernandes & Ors. v. Erasmo Jack de Sequeria (dead), (2012) 5 SCC 370 ), this Court taking note of its earlier judgment in Ramrameshwari Devi v. Nirmala Devi, (2011) 8 SCC 249 held: “False claims and defences are really serious problems with real estate litigation, predominantly because of ever-escalating prices of the real estate. Litigation pertaining to valuable real estate properties is dragged on by unscrupulous litigants in the hope that the other party will tire out and ultimately would settle with them by paying a huge amount. This happens because of the enormous delay in adjudication of cases in our courts. If pragmatic approach is adopted, then this problem can be minimised to a large extent.” The Court further observed that wrongdoers must be denied profit from their frivolous litigation, and that they should be prevented from introducing and relying upon, false pleadings and forged or fabricated documents in the records furnished by them to the court. 39. In view of the above, the appellants have disentitled themselves for any equitable relief. 40. Section 16-A has been added to the Act by the State Amendment Act, 1996, and the same imposes a complete restriction on the sale of acquired land by the tenure holder. In case the land is transferred in contravention of these provisions, the Government may, by way of an order, declare the transfer to be null and void, and on such declaration, the land shall, as penalty, be forfeited to, and vest in, the Revenue Department of the Government, free from all encumbrances. In view of the above, we are of the considered opinion that the sale deeds in favour of the appellants are void and unenforceable.41. In such a fact-situation, we fail to understand how the appellants came to possess the suit land which had been vested in the State ages ago, in the years 1983 and 1986. Such a course is not possible without the collusion of the officers of the State/Board.42. After considering the entire material on record,

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]30. In the instant case, the tenure holders/person-interested neither filed objections under Section 5-A of the Act, nor have they challenged the land acquisition proceedings, so far as the suit land is concerned, instead they chose to withdraw the compensation awarded in 1983 and 1986; after the expiry of about three decades and hence, they cannot be permitted to challenge the acquisition proceedings on any ground whatsoever. The appellants cannot claim title/relief better than what the original vendors were entitled to.31. In fact, the appellants have claimed reliefs in the writ petitions with respect to not just the suit land but also in relation to the land which was the subject matter of an earlier litigation by their predecessors-in-interest. We fail to understand for what purpose the relief of quashing the acquisition proceedings has been sought when, in respect of the said land, the proceedings already stood quashed.Section 16-A has been added to the Act by the State Amendment Act, 1996, and the same imposes a complete restriction on the sale of acquired land by the tenure holder. In case the land is transferred in contravention of these provisions, the Government may, by way of an order, declare the transfer to be null and void, and on such declaration, the land shall, as penalty, be forfeited to, and vest in, the Revenue Department of the Government, free from all encumbrances. In view of the above, we are of the considered opinion that the sale deeds in favour of the appellants are void and unenforceable.41. In such a fact-situation, we fail to understand how the appellants came to possess the suit land which had been vested in the State ages ago, in the years 1983 and 1986. Such a course is not possible without the collusion of the officers of the State/Board.