Karnataka HC Quashes Land Resumption Begun 32 Years After Sale, Orders Petitioners’ Names Restored in Revenue Records

The dispute concerned land granted in 1964 and alienated in 1983. Resumption proceedings were initiated in 2015.

The Assistant Commissioner allowed the claim and directed resumption; the Deputy Commissioner confirmed that order. The petitioners sought certiorari to quash both orders, contending, among other things, that the authorities had failed to consider the delay of nearly 32 years from alienation before proceedings began

The Court stated that, in land-restoration proceedings, laches must be treated as a primary consideration and that restoration action initiated after a significant delay may be barred by laches.

The judgment identifies the matter as arising in the PTCL context but does not cite a specific statutory provision or precedent by name.

The land had been alienated in 1983, but proceedings for resumption were initiated only in 2015. The Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner allowed and confirmed resumption without addressing this nearly 32-year delay or the petitioners’ laches contention.

Because delay was a material consideration in deciding whether restoration proceedings could proceed, the authorities’ failure to consider it rendered their orders unsustainable.

It directed the concerned authority to mutate or restore the petitioners’ name in the revenue records relating to the subject land.