Karnataka HC Quashes Land Resumption Begun 36 Years After 1968 Sale, Orders Petitioners’ Names Restored in Revenue Records

The land was granted to the original grantee in 1955, sold by registered sale deed in 1968, and sold again in 1982.

Resumption proceedings were initiated before the Assistant Commissioner in 2004. The Assistant Commissioner ordered resumption on 2 March 2016, and the Deputy Commissioner upheld that order on 4 October 2023. The petitioners challenged both orders, including on the ground of delay and laches

Section 4(1) of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act (PTCL Act) prohibits transfers in breach of the Act’s restrictions

The Court also applied the principle that delay and laches are a primary consideration in proceedings to resume granted land; restoration action initiated after significant delay may be barred by laches, as clarified by a Division Bench. The judgment does not identify the Division Bench decision by name or citation.

Although respondent No. 3 relied on the permanent non-alienation condition and Section 4(1) of the PTCL Act to justify resumption, the authorities failed to address that proceedings were initiated nearly 36 years after the 1968 sale and did not consider the petitioners’ laches objection.

Given the settled land rights following the sale and the significant delay, the Court held that the omission to assess laches meant the resumption orders could not legally stand.

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