Karnataka HC Quashes Resumption Of Land Sold In 1967, Orders Petitioner’s Revenue Entry Restored After 47-Year Delay

The land was granted to the original grantee in 1963, and a portion was sold by registered sale deed in 1967.

Resumption proceedings under the PTCL Act were initiated in 2014, nearly 47 years after the sale and 35 years after the Act came into force.

The Assistant Commissioner ordered resumption on 9 December 2016, and the Deputy Commissioner affirmed that order on 28 December 2023.

The petitioner challenged both orders by writ petition

Respondent No. 5 alleged that the sale deed had been fraudulently obtained and that the grantee’s family remained in possession

The Court applied the principles governing resumption proceedings under the PTCL Act, including the requirement to consider delay and laches when exercising statutory power after a substantial lapse of time.

It noted that a Division Bench had clarified that laches is a primary consideration in land-resumption proceedings and that restoration action initiated after significant delay may be barred by laches.

The Court also applied the principle that disputed allegations of fraud requiring evidentiary assessment are not ordinarily adjudicated in writ proceedings.

The authorities ordered resumption without addressing the nearly 47-year interval between the registered sale and commencement of proceedings, or the petitioner’s objection that the action was unreasonably delayed.

Because delay and laches were material considerations—particularly where rights had crystallised under the 1967 registered sale deed—their omission vitiated the orders.

The Court declined to determine the fraud allegation because it raised disputed questions of fact requiring appreciation of evidence, which was unsuitable for resolution in writ jurisdiction.

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