New Delhi: The Supreme Court today held that State cannot be allowed to demolish massive constructions made over the years by declaring the disputed land as a “private forest” after long and inordinate delay.
The apex court said it cannot put the clock back when the possession of the disputed land was not taken over or attempted to be taken over for decades and the issue was never raised when it should have been raised by the State.
It said citizens, who invested huge amount believing that there was no illegality in construction, should not suffer for the silence of the State for decades.
“The entire problem may also be looked at from the perspective of the citizen rather than only from the perspective of the State. No citizen can reasonably be told after almost half a century that he/she was issued a show cause notice (which was probably not served) and based on the show cause notice his/her land was declared a private forest about three decades ago and that it vests in the State,” a three-judge bench headed by justice R M Lodha said.
