Can't help a man sleeping over his rights for 50 years: Supreme Court 

DH News Service, New Delhi, Nov 25 2017, 23:36 IST



The Supreme Court, DH file photo

The Supreme Court has confirmed the Karnataka High Court's view that the court cannot come to aid of a man who sleeps over his rights for 50 years.

The top court dismissed a plea of a man seeking denotification of land in Bagalkot district that was acquired more than 50 years ago but was not used for the intended purpose.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Mohan M Shantanagoudar found no ground to interfere with the Karnataka High Court's judgement of November 22, 2016, dismissing a writ appeal filed by Sangappa.

The petitioner's adopted father owned five acres and three guntas of land in Bagalkot district. In 1959, the said land was acquired by the state government for laying railway siding and water pipe for Kanoria Cement Industry Ltd. He had claimed that the land was not put to use for the purpose it was acquired.

The HC rejected his contention saying that there was a possibility that the land was used for the intended purpose till 1970. The HC also said, "It is trite to state that a litigant who sleeps over his rights for 50 long years cannot expect the court to rush to his rescue, and to unsettle the position concretised in 1959."