EFFECT OF VOID CONVEYANCE

> Where the parties to a sale of a portion of the public domain covered by homestead patent have been proven to be guilty of having effected the transaction with knowledge of the cause of its invalidity, the sale is null and void and shall cause the reversion of the property to the State

RULE OF PARI DELICTO NOT APPLICABLE

> The principle of in pari delicto is not applicable to cases when its application would run counter to the an avowed public fundamental policy or to public interest

> Whether as a result of the void sale the land reverted to the State is a point between the State and the grantee of the homestead and his heirs. In any event, the plaintiff’s right to the possession and use of the property can hardly be disputed while the government doesn’t take steps to assert its title to the
homestead.

> Reversion isn’t automatic. As long as the government has not chosen to act, the rights of the patentee stand and must be recognized in the courts of law.