Karnataka HC Quashes Land Resumption Begun 28 Years After Sale, Orders Petitioners’ Revenue Entries Restored

The land was granted to the original grantee in 1960 and sold under a registered sale deed in 1974.

Resumption proceedings were initiated in 2002 under the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, 1978 (“PTCL Act”).

The Assistant Commissioner ordered resumption on 22 July 2009, and the Deputy Commissioner upheld that order on 23 January 2024.

The judgment also records that the original grantee’s legal heirs were not brought on record in the proceedings before the Deputy Commissioner.

The Court applied the PTCL Act and the doctrine of delay and laches.

It stated that, when considering resumption of land under the Act, the authorities must consider whether exercising their power after a significant lapse of time is justified; delay may bar restoration proceedings, and laches is a primary consideration in resumption cases.

The Court also exercised its jurisdiction under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution to quash the challenged orders and grant consequential relief.

The sale took place in 1974, while resumption proceedings began in 2002—nearly 28 years after the sale and 23 years after the PTCL Act came into force.

The Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner failed to address whether this delay was unreasonable or whether the land rights had crystallised following the registered sale deed.

Because delay and laches were material considerations, that failure vitiated the resumption orders.

It quashed the Assistant Commissioner’s order dated 22 July 2009 and the Deputy Commissioner’s order dated 23 January 2024, and directed the concerned authority to restore the petitioners’ names in the revenue records relating to the subject land.