In Brief
A member of a cooperative society obtained a loan and charged agricultural land under the Bombay Agricultural Debtors Relief Act, 1947. Without obtaining the society's consent or repaying any part of the loan, he sold the land in 1971. The buyer subsequently sold it to a third party in 1972. The original member later sued for recovery after the society released the charge in 1973. The Supreme Court held that although the sales were technically void under Section 48(e) of the Act, the original member could not benefit from his own wrongdoing. Only the society, not the defaulting member, could challenge the alienation. The principle that no one can profit from their own breach rendered the sales enforceable.
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