While deciding an appeal filed by members of an aboriginal tribe, Chattisgarh High Court bench of Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal, remarked that aboriginal tribes have right to development and furthered that their right in the property is inalienable.
The petitioner had filed a suit for declaration of title and permanent injunction stating that the aboriginals, the defendant, were not entitled to possession as he had purchased the property in auction held by Sewa Sahkari Samiti, a society registered under the M.P. Co-operative Societies Act. On this, the defendants or the aboriginals contended that auction sale made by the said co-operative society is hit by Section 41-A(5) of the M.P. Co-operative Societies Act, 1960.
MP Land Revenue Code prohibits ‘transfer’ of land belonging to an aboriginal tribe but doesn’t define the term “transfer”. The Chhatisgarh bench observed that the ‘auction-sale’ of land belonging to an aboriginal tribe to recover amount of loan would amount to “transfer” within the meaning of Section 165(6) of the Code. The Court set aside the judgment holding it absolutely unjustified to grant decree in favour of the plaintiff as auction sale of the land belonging to the plaintiff who is notified aboriginal tribe. The Court noted, “Taking the other view of the matter would deprive the aboriginal to be his title, vesting land in favour of non-aboriginal tribe and the same is void being prohibited by law and even by auction sale in order to recover the amount advanced to the plaintiff, his property could not be sold being expressly forbidden by law and being opposed to public policy within the meaning of Section 23 of the Indian Contract Act, 1972.”
Courtesy/By: Shivangi Km Mishra
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28 Dec 2018
