ORDER :

The Appeal is allowed in terms of the signed order.

ORDER :

Heard learned counsel for the parties.

This Appeal has been filed against the impugned judgment dated 09.11.2005 passed by the High Court of Karnataka in Writ Appeal No. 7727 of 2003.

The facts have been set out in the impugned judgment and hence we are not repeating the same here.

Admittedly, respondent Nos. 3 to 7 had sold the land in question to the appellant in the year 1972. This was done by respondents Nos. 3 to 7 voluntarily and of their own free volition. It is only in the year 1988 that they filed an application before the Assistant Commissioner under Section 4 read with Section 5 of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, 1978 inter alia praying for cancellation of the sale transaction and also restoration of the land in question.

In our opinion, the application of the respondents should have been rejected on the short ground that there was considerable delay in filing the same and thus it was not maintainable. Even if no limitation is prescribed by the statute, all acts have to be done within a reasonable period of time.

In the result, the Appeal is a