After 1997 Conversion, PTCL Act Could Not Apply To 2018 Resumption Bid: Karnataka HC Restores Purchaser’s Revenue Entry

The land in dispute was granted in 1949, alienated in 1960 and again in 1994.

The petitioner obtained conversion of the land in 1997.

In 2018, proceedings under Section 5 of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, 1978 (“PTCL Act”) were initiated seeking resumption.

The Assistant Commissioner rejected the resumption petition, but the Deputy Commissioner, on appeal, remanded the matter for reconsideration by an order dated 2 March 2026.

The petitioner challenged that remand order by writ petition.

The Court applied the PTCL Act, referring to Section 5 as the basis for resumption proceedings and Section 4(2) as the provision requiring permission for transfer of granted land.

Relying on the principle stated by a Three-Judge Bench in W.P. No. 60483/2014, the Court held that once granted land is converted or diverted for non-agricultural purposes, it ceases to qualify as “granted land” for purposes of the PTCL Act; consequently, Section 4(2) permission is not required for such converted land.

The land had been converted in 1997, well before the resumption proceedings were initiated in 2018.

Applying the Three-Judge Bench’s interpretation, the Court concluded that the PTCL Act did not apply to the land when those proceedings began.

The Deputy Commissioner had failed to consider this material fact and therefore could not properly remand the matter for reconsideration.

It allowed the writ petition, issued a writ of certiorari, quashed the order dated 2 March 2026, and directed the concerned authority to restore the petitioner’s name in the revenue records relating to the land.