In Brief
The State of Kerala appealed the High Court's decision upholding respondents' exemption from property vesting under the Kerala Private Forests (Vesting and Assignment) Act, 1971. The respondents owned 14 acres qualifying for exemption under Section 3(3) if they had a registered title prior to 10 May 1971 and the land was intended for personal cultivation. The Supreme Court, having already clarified the law in an earlier appeal (Joseph v. State of Kerala), dismissed the State's plea as impermissible re-litigation. The respondents satisfied both conditions: their title predated vesting, and their actual cultivation of rubber, coconut, and other crops from before 1971 demonstrated genuine intention to cultivate."
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