Doubts over Hakku Pathras require site inspection and Panchayat-record verification before Tahsildar inquiry.

The petitioners in six connected writ petitions sought directions to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and its officers to consider their applications for e-khathas for properties in Pattandur Agrahara, relying on Hakku Pathras and revenue entries made by the erstwhile Village Panchayat.

The GBA questioned the genuineness of the Hakku Pathras, noting that different certificates under the same scheme appeared to bear signatures of different officers.

Petitioners’ counsel submitted that the properties were occupied and that pakka houses had been constructed on them.

The petitions were heard together and disposed of by a common order.

1. Whether the petitioners’ applications for e-khathas could be considered on the basis of their Hakku Pathras and erstwhile Panchayat revenue entries despite the GBA’s doubts about the certificates’ genuineness.

2. Whether verification by the jurisdictional Tahsildar should be required before the GBA considers those applications.

The petitions invoked Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution, and the Court referred to its order dated 25 June 2025 in W.P. No. 7063/2025 (LB-BMP), under which the jurisdictional Assistant Revenue Officer (ARO) was directed to consider comparable applications without insisting on Tahsildar verification unless legally warranted.

The Court applied the approach that doubts about Hakku Pathras should not, by themselves, foreclose consideration of an applicant’s claim: the ARO should inspect the property and verify the relevant records of the erstwhile Panchayat, and may seek Tahsildar verification if warranted after those steps.

The Court declined to endorse the petitioners’ claims without scrutiny, given the GBA’s stated doubts about the Hakku Pathras.

At the same time, it considered that an inspection to establish whether houses had been constructed on the claimed sites, together with verification of the erstwhile Panchayat’s records, would provide a grounded basis for assessing the applications.

It therefore directed the ARO to undertake those inquiries before deciding whether Tahsildar verification was necessary, rather than requiring a broad preliminary inquiry into the certificates’ genuineness in every case.

The ARO must examine the material, inspect the sites, verify the erstwhile Panchayat records, and take the measures necessary to issue e-khathas if justified.

The verification exercise must be completed within eight weeks after receipt of the order and the petitioners’ papers.