In Brief
The Supreme Court set aside cancellation proceedings initiated 13 years after land allotment to poor villagers under the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act. Although the Act does not prescribe an express time limit for suo moto cancellation, the Court held that such powers must be exercised within a reasonable period. The allottees had relied on official approval for residential construction and lived there for years. The Court found that fraud allegations were not properly laid in the proceedings, and cancelling the allotments would cause undue hardship to vulnerable persons who had lawfully improved the land.
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