SAFEMA overrides bona fide purchaser protection where transfers occur after notice and forfeiture, rendering title void.

A transfer made after notice under SAFEMA, and especially after forfeiture is confirmed, is statutorily void for proceedings under the Act. Section 11 treats such post-notice transfers as ignored and, once forfeiture occurs, as null and void. Because SAFEMA is a special enactment with overriding effect under section 24, inconsistent general law cannot save the transfer. A transferee therefore cannot rely on section 41 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 to claim protection as a bona fide purchaser without notice where the transfer chain itself arose after forfeiture.

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Issues: Whether a transfer of property made after notice and after forfeiture under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976 is valid, and whether the transferee can claim protection as a bona fide purchaser under section 41 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882.

Analysis: Section 11 of the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976 provides that any transfer of property after issue of notice under section 6 or section 10 is to be ignored for the purposes of proceedings under the Act, and if the property is subsequently forfeited under section 7, such transfer is deemed null and void. The transfer relied on by the appellant, as well as the transfers in the chain of title, occurred long after forfeiture of the property and confirmation of forfeiture. The Act is a special enactment and by section 24 has overriding effect over inconsistent general law. In that situation, section 41 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 cannot protect a transferee claiming bona fide purchase without notice.

Conclusion: The transfers in favour of the appellant and his predecessors were null and void, and the claim based on bona fide purchase failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Under SAFEMA, a transfer made after notice and forfeiture is statutorily void and the Act overrides inconsistent general law, excluding protection otherwise available under section 41 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882.

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