On May 7, 2025 the Hon’ble Court in the case of MAHNOOR FATIMA IMRAN & ORS. VERSUS M/S VISWESWARA INFRASTRUCTURE PVT. LTD & ORS. said that the power of attorney and even registration of land are not proof of ownership. One needs a properly registered sales deed agreement.
Facts:
The case involves a dispute over 526.07 acres of land in Telangana’s Ranga Reddy District.
It was owned by 11 individuals. On 17 July 1974, they decided to give Sri Venkateswara Enterprises the General Power of Attorney (GPA) to manage their lands.
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In 1974, the Andhra Pradesh government introduced the Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973. The act took surplus farming land and redistributed it to those without land. According to it, about 99.07 acres of land were taken.
Then came the Urban Land Ceiling Act, 1980. The appellants filed for it, thinking that their land came under agricultural land (as was claimed in the previous act) and therefore they would not face any deductions as it was not urban land (therefore, not covered under the urban ceiling act). However, the government allotted 470.33 acres to the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA), stating that it was for access.
Despite legal surrender, the physical possession remained with the appellants.
In 1982, the GPA agreed to sell a portion of the land (agreement of sale) to M/s Bhavana Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. (Bhavana Society). But within this land, 53 acres were disputed (as they came within the 99.07-acre land).
Later, the Bhavana Society now claimed those disputed 53 acres due to the 1982 agreement for sale. And subsequently, they sold the land to individual buyers using a registered sale deed.
But since there was no registered sale deed between Bhavana Society and the GPA of the original owners, they were not the legal heirs of the land.
Therefore, the individual buyers sued Bhavana Society.
Judgment:
The Hon’ble Court stated that the Bhavan Society has no legal title over the land. As the agreement to sell was not registered, it was just an agreement, not a sale of the property. Therefore, the Bhavana Society has no right to sell the land to any individual buyer.
Therefore, the 99.07 acres are given back to the Telangana Government.
Corram:
Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia
Justice K Vinod Chandran
