1973 Sale Deed Versus Rival 1985 Deeds: Karnataka HC Leaves Raichur Plot Mutation Order Intact, Says Claimant May Seek Civil Title Declaration

The petitioners claimed ownership of plots in Venkateshwar Colony, Raichur.

Anantha Ramulu’s father had purchased four plots by a registered sale deed dated 6 November 1973, and later gifted three of them to Anantha Ramulu by a registered gift deed dated 19 April 2023.

The private respondents claimed rights to the disputed plots under separate registered sale deeds executed in 1985, tracing their title to other persons.

They challenged the municipal-record mutations before the Regional Commissioner, who allowed their revision petitions, relying on land-conversion and approved-layout records and questioning the 1973 sale deed and consequential gift deed.

The petitioners challenged those orders under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution.

The Court considered the petitions under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution and assessed whether the impugned orders suffered from perversity warranting writ-court interference.

It further treated the parties’ competing claims to ownership as matters for appropriate declaratory relief before the competent Civil Court.

The Regional Commissioner had relied on the conversion order, the approved layout, and the correspondence between the boundaries stated in the private respondents’ sale deeds and the approved layout.

The High Court found that the impugned orders were based on the submissions and documents presented and did not disclose perversity warranting interference.

Because the parties asserted rival chains of title through registered conveyances, the Court left determination of ownership to the competent Civil Court rather than resolving title in the writ proceedings.

It clarified that the petitioners could approach the competent Civil Court for appropriate declaratory relief concerning title to the disputed properties.