Within what period can a suit under Section 6 of the Specific Relief Act be filed against the Government?

Section 6(2)(b) of the Specific Relief Act, 1963: no suit under section 6 can be filed against the Government at all — not within any period, however short. The bar is absolute and categorical, admitting of no exception.

The Statutory Bar Under Section 6(2)(b)

Section 6(2) provides two independent restrictions on the maintainability of a suit under the section. The first, in clause (a), is a bar of limitation — no suit shall be brought after the expiry of six months from the date of dispossession. The second, in clause (b), is not a limitation bar at all but a complete exclusion of the Government from the operation of the section: no suit under section 6 shall be brought against the Government. The two clauses operate on different planes — clause (a) conditions the remedy by time; clause (b) removes the remedy altogether in respect of a class of defendants.

No Period of Limitation Can Apply to a Non-Existent Remedy

The question of "within what period" a suit may be filed against the Government under section 6 is therefore a question that does not arise in law. Since no such suit is maintainable at any point in time, the concept of a limitation period is inapplicable. The bar is not one of limitation but one of substantive exclusion — the Government is wholly outside the reach of section 6, and no court has jurisdiction to entertain such a suit regardless of when it is filed.

Rationale

The exclusion of the Government recognises that the State exercises sovereign and statutory powers of resumption, requisition, and acquisition of land under a separate and elaborate constitutional and legislative framework — principally under Article 300A of the Constitution of India (which provides that no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law) and statutes such as the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The summary possessory remedy under section 6, designed to prevent private self-help, was not intended to operate against governmental action taken under statutory authority.

Available Remedies Against the Government

The exclusion under section 6(2)(b) does not leave the dispossessed person remediless. The following avenues remain open:

Suit under section 5 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963, on the basis of title or possessory title, within twelve years under Article 64 or Article 65 of the Limitation Act, 1963. The Government is not exempted from the plenary remedy under section 5, and a full title suit against the Government is competent within the applicable period.

• Writ remedy under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, where the Government has dispossessed without lawful authority, in breach of fundamental rights, or in violation of principles of natural justice. The Supreme Court in Meghmala v G Narasimha Reddy, (2010) 8 SCC 383, affirmed that even State authorities cannot dispossess a person by a mere executive order and that the Government can resume possession only in a manner known to or recognised by law.

• Statutory remedies under land acquisition, revenue, and requisition laws, where the dispossession is in exercise of specific statutory powers.
  

Current Legal Position

A suit under section 6 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 against the Government cannot be filed within any period whatsoever — the remedy is simply unavailable as a matter of law. The period of six months stipulated in section 6(2)(a) applies exclusively to suits against private parties. Against the Government, the dispossessed person must pursue the plenary suit under section 5 within twelve years, constitutional remedies by way of writ, or such special statutory remedies as the nature of the dispossession may attract.