Resolving Colonial-Era Land Dispute in Dadra and Nagar Haveli

The Supreme Court resolved a lengthy dispute over land in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, previously owned by the Portuguese government. Upholding the Bombay High Court's decision, the bench ruled against the appellants' claims under colonial land grants. The decision concludes a decades-long legal battle over rescinded land rights.

In a pivotal judgment, the Supreme Court on Wednesday concluded a legal battle spanning over five decades regarding land in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The land, once under Portuguese rule, was at the center of a dispute that saw the Bombay High Court's decision upheld by Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and N Kotiswar Singh. The Court determined there was no estoppel against the government in its sovereign powers.

The appellants' grievances, based on colonial land grants, were deemed without legal foundation, marking the end of a prolonged legal struggle following the rescission of these grants by the state's collector in April 1974.

(With inputs from agencies.)