Karnataka HC Orders Two Women’s Names Restored In Land Records, Citing 23-Year Delay In PTCL Resumption Proceedings

The land in question was granted in 1944 and first alienated in 1993.

Resumption proceedings were initiated in 2016. The Assistant Commissioner rejected the resumption claim; on appeal, the Deputy Commissioner partly allowed the appeal and remanded the matter to the Assistant Commissioner for fresh consideration.

The petitioners challenged the Deputy Commissioner’s order dated 22 October 2024. They also sought to challenge the 2023 amendment to the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, 1978, but did not press that prayer.

The Court applied the principle that delay and laches are material considerations in proceedings seeking resumption or restoration of land under the PTCL framework.

It stated that a Division Bench had clarified that laches should be treated as a primary requirement in resumption matters and that restoration action brought after significant delay may be barred by laches.

The first alienation occurred in 1993, but resumption proceedings were not initiated until 2016—a lapse of nearly 23 years.

The Deputy Commissioner remanded the matter without considering whether that delay was unreasonable or unexplained, despite the petitioners’ contention and the registered sale deed executed in 1993. Because delay and laches were material to whether the proceedings could be entertained, the failure to address them rendered the remand order unsustainable.

It directed the concerned authority to restore the petitioners’ names in the revenue records relating to the subject land. The challenge to the 2023 amendment was not pressed.