- 1 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010202732026 NC: 2026:KHC:47562 WP No. 9260 of 2026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 1ST DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2026 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.I.ARUN WRIT PETITION NO.9260 OF 2026 (SC/ST) BETWEEN: 1. SMT. RAMALAKSHMAMMA AGED ABOUT 67 YEARS, D/O LATE DOMMARA THIMMAIAH, W/O VENKATA RAVANAPPA R/AT MADANAPALLI, CHITTOR DISTRICT-517 325. 2. MR. SRIRAMAPPA, AGED ABOUT 68 YEARS S/O LATE DOMMARA THIMMAIAH, R/AT SOMENAHALLI HOBLI, GUDIBANDE TALUK-562 104. …PETITIONERS (BY SRI. MOHANA CHANDRA P., ADVOCATE) AND: 1. THE STATE OF KARNATAKA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE REPRESENTED BY ITS PRINCIPAL SECRETARY M.S. BUILDING, DR. AMBEDKAR VEEDI, BANGALORE-560001. 2. THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, CHIKKABALLAPURA DISTRICT-562101. Digitally signed by K M SOMASHEKAR Location: HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA DHARWAD BENCH - 2 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010202732026 NC: 2026:KHC:47562 WP No. 9260 of 2026 3. THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, CHIKKABALLAPURA SUB-DIVISION, CHIKKABALLAPURA-562101. 4. MR. C.N. NAGAPPA, AGED ABOUT 67 YEARS, S/O CHOWARLALU NARAYANASWAMY R/AT SOMENAHALLI VILLAGE AND HOBLI, GUDIBANDE TALUK-562 104. …RESPONDENTS (BY SMT. SAVITHRAMMA, AGA., FOR R.1 TO R.3; SRI. N. DEVENDRA, ADVOCATE FOR R.4.) THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, PRAYING TO QUASH THE IMPUGNED ORDER DATED 22.08.2025 PASSED BY RESPONDENT NO.2 IN ITS PROCEEDING NO.PTCL/21/2022 VIDE ANNEXURE-J AND THEREBY SETTING ASIDE THE ORDER PASSED BY RESPONDENT NO.3 IN ITS PROCEEDING NO.PTCL (CHIM) 28/2015-16 AS PER ORDER DATED 18.4.2022 VIDE ANNEXURE-F, ETC. THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR ORDERS THROUGH PHYSICAL HEARING/VIDEO CONFERENCING, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.I.ARUN - 3 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010202732026 NC: 2026:KHC:47562 WP No. 9260 of 2026 ORAL ORDER 1. The land which is the subject matter of the writ petition was granted in favour of one Dombara Thimmaiah on 05.05.1961. He belonged to Scheduled Caste Community. After his demise, on 04.07.1995, the land was sold by his wife and three sons, leaving out his two daughters, of whom petitioner no.1 is one such daughter. 2. Petitioner no.1 is the daughter of late Dombara Thimmaiah and petitioner no.2 is the son of Dombara Thimmaiah. They made an application before the Assistant Commissioner under Section 5 of the PTCL Act in the year 2015. The same has been allowed by respondent No.3-Assistant Commissioner. On an appeal filed by respondent no.4, who is the present owner of the land, against the said order, respondent No.2-Deputy Commissioner has set aside the order passed by the Assistant Commissioner. Aggrieved by the same, the present petition is filed. 3. The case of the petitioners is that the land has been sold in violation of Section 4(2) of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and - 4 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010202732026 NC: 2026:KHC:47562 WP No. 9260 of 2026 Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, 1978 (for short 'PTCL Act') without obtaining necessary permission from the State. Even otherwise, it is contended that the wife and sons of late Dombara Thimmaiah, which included petitioner no.2 herein, had no right to sell the property and that petitioner No.1 and her another sister have never sold the property in favour of respondent no.4. On the said ground, it is prayed that the writ petition be allowed. 4. Learned AGA for respondent Nos.1 to 3 supports the contention of the petitioners and prays for allowing the writ petition. 5. Per contra, learned counsel for respondent no.4 submits that there has been an inordinate delay of 20 years in making necessary application under Section 5 of the PTCL Act and the said delay is unreasonable. Further, it is submitted that an enquiry regarding title of the property cannot be made under the proceedings initiated under Section 5 of the PTCL Act and the only aspect that can be gone into is whether the sale effected is in violation of Section 4 of the PTCL Act or not. It is submitted that respondent No.2-Deputy Commissioner has - 5 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010202732026 NC: 2026:KHC:47562 WP No. 9260 of 2026 rightly allowed the appeal as there is an unreasonable delay in making an application under Section 5 of the PTCL Act. On the said ground, it is prayed that the writ petition be dismissed. 6. Section 4 of the PTCL Act reads as under: "4. Prohibition of transfer of granted lands.-(1) Notwithstanding anything in any law, agreement, contract or instrument, any transfer of granted land made either before or after the commencement of this Act, in contravention of the terms of the grant of such land or the law providing for such grant, or sub-section (2) shall be null and void and no right, title or interest in such land shall be conveyed or be deemed ever to have conveyed by such transfer. (2) No person shall, after the commencement of this Act, transfer or acquire by transfer any granted land without the previous permission of the Government. (3) The provisions of sub-sections (1) and (2) shall apply also to the sale of any land in execution of a decree or order of a civil court or of any award or order of any other authority." - 6 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010202732026 NC: 2026:KHC:47562 WP No. 9260 of 2026 7. Section 5 of the PTCL Act reads as under: "5. Resumption and restitution of granted lands.- (1) Where, on application by any interested person or on information given in writing by any person or suo-motu, and after such enquiry as he deems necessary, the Assistant Commissioner is satisfied that the transfer of any granted land is null and void under sub-section (1) of section 4, he may,- (a) by order take possession of such land after evicting all persons in possession thereof in such manner as may be prescribed: Provided that no such order shall be made except after giving the person affected a reasonable opportunity of being heard; (b) restore such land to the original grantee or his legal heir. Where it is not reasonably practicable to restore the land to such grantee or legal heir, such land shall be deemed to have vested in the Government free form all encumbrances. The Government may grant such land to a person belonging to any of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes in accordance with the rules relating to grant of land. - 7 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010202732026 NC: 2026:KHC:47562 WP No. 9260 of 2026 (c) notwithstanding anything contained in any law, there shall be no limitation of time to invoke the provisions of this Act. (d) the provisions of clause (c) shall apply to all cases pending before all the competent authorities and all Courts of Law adjudicating the cases under this section." (1-A) After an enquiry referred to in sub-section (1) the Assistant Commissioner may, if he is satisfied that transfer of any granted land is not null and void pass an order accordingly. (2) Subject to the orders of the Deputy Commissioner under Section 5-A, any order passed under sub-section (1) and (1-A) shall be final and shall not be questioned in any court of law and no injunction shall be granted by any court in respect of any proceeding taken or about to be taken by the Assistant Commissioner in pursuance of any power conferred by or under this Act. (3) For the purposes of this section, where any granted land is in the possession of a person, other than the original grantee or his legal heir, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that such person has acquired the land by a transfer which is null and void under the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 4." - 8 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010202732026 NC: 2026:KHC:47562 WP No. 9260 of 2026 8. A plain reading of the aforementioned provisions reveal that the Assistant Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner as the case may be, cannot decide the aspect relating to title of the property. They are required to examine as to whether the sale deed executed in respect of granted land is in violation of the conditions mentioned in Section 4 of the PTCL Act or not. 9. Admittedly, in the instant case, there has been an inordinate delay of 20 years in preferring an application under Section 5 of the PTCL Act since the date of the sale. The said delay is not explained satisfactorily and under the circumstances, the same has to be considered unreasonable. 10. However, if petitioner no.1 were to have a right over the property concerned, which could not have been alienated by her brothers and her mother, in that event, it is needless to state that she is having the liberty to approach the Civil Court in accordance with law to enforce the same. However, that cannot be a ground to set aside the impugned order passed by respondent no.2-Deputy Commissioner. - 9 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010202732026 NC: 2026:KHC:47562 WP No. 9260 of 2026 11. For the aforementioned reasons, the writ petition is hereby dismissed reserving liberty to petitioner No.1 to approach the Civil Court to enforce her rights over the property concerned, if any, in accordance with law. In view of dismissal of the petition, I.A.No.1/2026 also stands dismissed. Sd/- (M.I.ARUN) JUDGE hkh. List No.: 1 Sl No.: 28