SRI M. SANKARANARAYANAN versus THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, BANGALORE & ORS.

Citation: [2017] 4 S.C.R. 206 · Decided: 10-04-2017 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: MADAN B. LOKUR · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed
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Judgment (excerpt)

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[2017] 4 S.C.R. 206 
SRI M. SANKARANARAYANAN 
v. 
THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, BANGALORE & ORS. 
(Civil Appeal No. 4937 of2017) 
APRIL 10,2017 
[MADAN B. LOKUR AND DEEPAK GUPTA, JJ.) 
Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964: 
s.67 - Applicability of- Dispute as to title of Beaulieu estate 
situated in Bengaluru '--Portions of the estate sold to individuals as 
well as acquired by State Government from time to. time - Case of 
respondent-authority that the said estate belonged to State 
GovernmenLand it was fraudulently shown in conveyai1ce deed of 
year 1900 to have been purchased for the First princess of Mysore 
out of her personal funds - Summary proceedings u/s. 67 - Held: 
Record produced from the Archives of the State depicted that the 
• Dewan of Mysore had put up a memo before the Maharaja of Mysore 
in which it was stated that, as desired by His Highness, the Dewan 
of Mysore had arranged to purchase the Beaulieu estate for the 
First Princess - There were details of the account of the First 
Princess, cash balance and pension due to her and how the money 
for purchase of this house was to be appropriated out of the funds 
of the First Princess - Therefore, ·authority erred in coming to 
conclusion that the deed of conveyance was fraudulently claimed 
in favour of the First Princess and that all subsequent transactions 
relating to the estate property were fraudulent - The proceedings ul 
s.67 were without jurisdiction - s.67 cannot be used to dispute the 
title of persons who have been holding property for more than 100 
years - The proceedings are also beyond the period of limitation -
Limitation. 
s.67 - A dispute of title of property between the State and 
individuals cannot be decided in terms of s. 67 . 
. Presumption: 
PresuinjJtion of fraud - Fraud must be pleaded and proved; 
it cannot be presumed - Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. 
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SRI M. SANKARANARAYANAN v. THE DEPUTY 
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, COMMISSIONER, BANGALORE · 
Allowing the appeals, the' Court 
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HELD: 1. No doubt, the original conveyance deed shows 
thatit had been executed to the Dewan of Mysore by Lancelot 
Ricketts, however, at the bottom of the conveyance deed, there 
is a note that the same has been registered and a fee of Rs.128.50 
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had been paid. There is a memo on record which has been 
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produced from the Archives of the State and this shows that the 
Dewan of Mysore put up a memo before the Maharaja of Mysore. 
In this memo, it is stated that, as desired. by His Highness, ,the 
Dewan of Mysore had arranged to· purchase Mr. Lancelot 
Ricketts's house for the }'irst Princess. This memo was put up. C 
on 03.08.1990 and approved on 04.08.1990. On the, side of this 
memo, there is a note that His Highness be(ore 'conveying 
approval may explain the matter to and secure t,he clearance of 
the First Princess. This was done jlnd approval given on 
04.08.1990, where-after the conveyance deed was executed on 
25.08.1900. [Para 8] [212-C-D, F] 
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2. The total area was 24 acres and 12 gunthas. In the year 
1918-19, correspondence was exchanged between the 
Government of Mysore and the Controller of Palace of Mysore 
with regard to some encroachment upon the land of the First 
Princess. Finally, the Government agreed to pay compensation 
of Rs.2,300/- for the same to the First Princess. Again in 1948 it 
appears that the State wanted to acquire some portion of the 
estate. On 11.12.1948, a letter was written by the Huzur Secretary 
to the Government of Mysore that since the land was part of 
''Beaulieu" estate whkh belonged to the First Princess, all 
correspondence for acquisition of the same be addressed to her. 
On 06.08.1949, 12680 square yards, out of 'Beaulieu' estate were 
acquired for a sum of Rs.1,95,000/- and the compensation was 
paid to the First Princess. [Para 9] [212-G-H; 213-A] 
3. The First Princess married one Sri Kantharaje Urs in 
the year 1918 and they had a daughter Smt. Leelavathi Devi. 
Smt. Leelavathi Devi became the owner of "Beaulieu" estate 
after the death of her parents and, after her death, her husband 
.K. Basavaraj Urs succeeded to the property. On 02.08.1956, 
the Government of Mysore acquired another piece of land and, 
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2017] 4 S.C.R. 
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again; the compensation was paid to the daughter of the First 
Princess. Another portion of "Beaulieu" estate was acquired in 
the year 1959 and compensation was paid to K. Basavaraj Urs. 
[Paras 10 and 11) [213-B-C]
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