Fraud Vitiates Everything: Telangana High Court Quashes Land Claims Based on Fabricated 1973 Stamp Paper

The Judge was dealing with a petition filed in 2013 by Karri Koteshwar Rao and, after his demise, his legal representatives, regarding 14.09 acres of land in Survey No.s 148/3 to 148/9 of Chunchupalli village, in the mandal of the same name, in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district. They bought the land through a sada bainama sale deed dated 14.04.1959 from Nagubandi Mallaiah, before Regulation 1 of the 1970 Act (total alienation of land in Scheduled Area) came into force.

However, one Molothu Sreenu relied upon forged and fabricated documents to claim ownership over the disputed land and he submitted a sada sale deed of the year 1973 and claimed that he was a member of the Lambada (Scheduled Tribe) community.

The controversy revolved around the crucial documents produced by the Sreenu before the appellate tribunal was a “Sada Sale Deed” purportedly executed on March 29, 1973. However, the petitioners argued that the stamp paper itself exposed the fraud since it carried the national motto “Satyameva Jayate” along with the Ashoka Chakra emblem — features that were introduced on stamp papers printed by the India Security Press, Nashik, only from February 25, 1977. Based on the fabricated documents and by playing fraud, he obtained favorable orders in the lower tribunals.

When it reached the High Court, Justice Bheemapaka found serious substance in the allegation and observed that a document allegedly executed in 1973 could not have contained a feature introduced several years later, indicating prima facie fabrication.

The court also examined ‘pahani’ and ‘adangal’ records allegedly showing possession of the land by Sreenu`s father during 1973-76. However, the tahsildar informed the court that no such records were available in official archives.

The district Ccollector’s report further confirmed that no such entries existed in the revenue records for those years, leading the court to draw an adverse inference that the documents relied upon before lower tribunals were forged. The court also noted that Lambadas were declared as a Scheduled Tribe in 1976 under Article 342 of the Constitution, hence, purchase of properties by Lambada community members after the Regulation came into force was not in contravention of Section 3 of the Regulation.

Despite the interim stay orders issued by the High Court, Sreenu sold the plots in the disputed land to around 130 tribal people and constructions were made by them, based on the sada bainama papers. The court found that Sreenu’s advocate on record on his behalf made false statements and cautioned counsel to be cautious and diligent while filing affidavits and making submissions.

The court ordered rectification of revenue records that were allegedly manipulated on the strength of fabricated documents and observed that parties who suffered due to such fraud were free to initiate both civil and criminal proceedings against those responsible.

The court also reminded purchasers that if the vendor’s title itself collapsed due to fraud, subsequent purchasers could not claim protection merely on the ground that they purchased the property for consideration. The court observed that the only remedy available for them was to sue their vendors for recovery of sale consideration.