Writ Petition No. 2442 of 2024 · The High Court
Case Details
- 1 - NC: 2025:KHC:4925 WP No. 2442 of 2024 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 4TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2025 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM WRIT PETITION NO. 2442 OF 2024 (KLR-RR/SUR) BETWEEN: 1. MR. M CHANDRU, S/O LATE MUNINARAYANAPPA, AGED ABOUT 35 YEARS. 2. MR. SUNIL, S/O LATE MUNINARAYANAPPA, AGED ABOUT 32 YEARS. BOTH ARE R/AT 185/2, 1ST MAIN, CHIKKALLASANDRA VILLAGE, OPP. MADDURAMMA TEMPLE, SUBRAMANYAPURA POST, BENGALURU SOUTH TALUK -560 061.
Legal Reasoning
(BY SRI R SRINIVASA GOWDA, ADVOCATE) …PETITIONERS Digitally signed by AL BHAGYA Location: HIGH COURT OF KARNATKA AND: 1. THE STATE OF KARNATAKA, REVENUE DEPARTMENT, 5TH FLOOR , M S BUILDING, BENGALURU-560 001. REP. BY ITS PRINCIPAL SECRETARY. 2. THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, BENGALURU URBAN DISTRICT, K G ROAD, BENGALURU-560 009. 3. THE TAHSILDHAR, BANGALORE SOUTH TALUK, - 2 - NC: 2025:KHC:4925 WP No. 2442 of 2024 KANDAYA BHAVANA, K G ROAD, BANGALORE-560 009. 4. THE MANAGING DIRECTOR, RAJIV GANDHI HOUSING CORPORATION LTD., CAUVERY BHAVAN, 9TH FLOOR, E AND F BLOCK, K G ROAD, BENGALURU-560 009. (BY SRI MANJUNATH K, HCGP FOR R-1 TO R-3; SMT. SHILPA RANI, ADVOCATE FOR R-4) …RESPONDENTS THIS WP IS FILED UNDER ARTICLE 226 AND 227 OF THE INDIA PRAYING TO DIRECT THE CONSTITUTION OF RESPONDENT TO EFFECT KATHA AND MUTATIONM IN FAVOR OF THE PETITIONERs IN COMPLIANCE OF THE ORDER DATED 21.12.2020 PASSED IN RRT (2) (S) CR 09/2020-21 BY THE SPL. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, BANGALORE SOUTH SUB- DIVISION AS PER ANNEXURE-J BY CONSIDERING THE REPRESENTATION OF THE PETITIONER DATED 29.12.2023 AS PER ANNEXURE-S ETC. THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: CORAM: HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM ORAL ORDER This petition is filed alleging inaction on the part of the 3rd respondent - Tahsildar who has failed to act on the order passed by the Deputy Commissioner vide Annexure- J wherein the Deputy Commissioner on enquiry has come to the conclusion that the grant made in favour of - 3 - NC: 2025:KHC:4925 WP No. 2442 of 2024 petitioners' grand father is genuine. Based on this order, petitioners seem to have submitted an application requesting change of katha. 2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners, learned Standing Counsel appearing for respondent No.4 and the learned High Court Government Pleader appearing for respondents 1 to 3. 3. Upon a thorough examination of the records, this Court finds that the petitioners' grandfather was granted 35 guntas of land in Survey No. 13 through Official Memorandums dated 01.08.1979 and 16.08.1979. Following these grants, a grant certificate was duly issued in Form No.1, as evidenced by Annexure-C. However, it has come to the attention of this Court that the respondent - State has subsequently allotted 5 acres of land in the very same Survey No. 13 to the 4th respondent - Housing Corporation by way of an order dated 27.09.2012. This conflicting allotment has given rise to the present dispute between the petitioners and the 4th - 4 - NC: 2025:KHC:4925 WP No. 2442 of 2024 respondent - Corporation, as the land granted to the petitioners’ grandfather and the land allotted to the Corporation overlap significantly. The fundamental issue here is that the authorities, without conducting a proper verification of the earlier grant in favor of the petitioners’ grandfather, have proceeded to allot a portion of the same land to the 4th respondent - Corporation. In light of this, the subsequent allotment made in favor of the 4th respondent - Corporation cannot be sustained in law, as it encroaches upon the portion of land that was previously granted to the petitioners' grandfather. 4. Furthermore, the Deputy Commissioner has conducted an inquiry into the grant made in favor of the petitioners’ grandfather and has arrived at the conclusion that the said grant is indeed genuine. This finding is substantiated by Annexure-J. Consequently, in view of the established authenticity of the grant, the 4th respondent - Corporation cannot claim any valid title over the portion of land that was originally granted to the petitioners’ - 5 - NC: 2025:KHC:4925 WP No. 2442 of 2024 grandfather. To ensure proper delineation of the land in question, the sketch prepared at the time of the original grant, as evidenced in Annexure-D, should be referred to as the primary document for demarcating the extent of 35 guntas granted to the petitioners’ grandfather. This would eliminate any ambiguity regarding the land boundaries and prevent further encroachments or conflicts. 5. Given these findings, this Court holds that the 4th respondent - Tahsildar is under a legal obligation to act upon the grant made in favor of the petitioners’ grandfather, which has been verified and upheld as genuine by the competent authority. The 3rd respondent - Tahsildar is equally duty-bound to carry out the mutation of the petitioners' names concerning the 35 guntas of land in Survey No. 13. Following the mutation process, the 3rd respondent - Tahsildar, in coordination with the Assistant Director of Land Records, must ensure that the granted 35 guntas is duly demarcated, while the remaining land held by the 4th respondent - Corporation is separately - 6 - NC: 2025:KHC:4925 WP No. 2442 of 2024 delineated. This process must be followed by the assignment of new corresponding survey numbers, which should be carried out through the necessary procedures of phodi and durasti. 6. In light of the above discussion, this Court issues the following:
Decision
ORDER (i) The writ petition is allowed. (ii) The 3rd respondent - Tahsildar shall proceed with the mutation of the petitioners' grandfather's name for the 35 guntas of land in Survey No. 13 without insisting upon the 11E sketch. Subsequently, after conducting a summary inquiry, the names of the petitioners shall be mutated by way of inheritance. (iii) The 3rd respondent - Tahsildar is authorized to carry out the process of phodi and durasti for the purpose of demarcating the petitioners' land measuring 35 guntas. Upon the exclusion of this 35 guntas, the remaining land held by the 4th - 7 - NC: 2025:KHC:4925 WP No. 2442 of 2024 respondent - Corporation shall be demarcated accordingly. Following this, new survey numbers shall be assigned to both portions of the land to prevent any future conflicts. (iv) The entire process of mutation, including the inheritance mutation in favor of the petitioners, shall be completed within a period of two months from the date of this order. Thereafter, the process of phodi and durasti, along with the assignment of new survey numbers, shall be completed within an additional period of six months. Sd/- (SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM) JUDGE VP List No.: 1 Sl No.: 3