Karnataka High Court partially invalidates amended law on appeals in land mutation disputes

Partially striking down a recent amendments made to the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, creating another layer of appeal before the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal (KAT), the High Court of Karnataka said that the additional layer of appeal would now be applicable only in respect of “original orders” passed under Section 136(3) of the Act by the Deputy Commissioners or Special Deputy Deputy Commissioners.

The court struck down the new provision, which has created an appeal before the KAT prior to filing petition before the High Court, challenging the “revisional orders” passed by the Deputy Commissioners or the Special Deputy Commissioners.

Justice R. Devdas passed the order on a batch of petitions filed by Somashekaraiah and others challenging the amendment brought to Section 136(1) of the KLR Act, 1956.

What State govt. said

The State government had argued that the change was necessary to reduce the burden on the High Court by channeling disputes through the KAT. However, petitioners had contended that the amendment would create endless litigation on disputes over land records like mutation entries.

However, the High Court observed that the amendment with regard to appeal before the KAT on “revisional orders” runs contrary to a 1996 Supreme Court ruling, which held that a revision cannot lie if a second appeal has been filed, and also judgment of a Full Bench of the High Court which had established three-tier mechanism for adjudication of such disputes.

Meanwhile, the court clarified that an order passed by the Assistant Commissioner under Section 136(2) of the Act may either be appealable or revisable before the Deputy Commissioner.

Revision petitition

The court also made it clear that an option would also available for an aggrieved party to file a revision petition before the KAT under Section 56 of the Act, if no appeal or revision is preferred before the Deputy Commissioner in respect of an order passed by the Assistant Commissioner.