BENGALURU: Despite the government’s directive to resolve pending land dispute cases in revenue courts within 3 to 6 months, administrative challenges continue to hinder swift case disposal. In Bengaluru Urban District alone, 16,355 cases remain unresolved, causing public inconvenience.
The land disputes, filed under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, and other related laws, are pending in courts presided over by Deputy Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners, and Tahsildars. A significant backlog of 10,324 cases is at the Assistant Commissioner level.
Of the 16,355 unresolved cases, 8,937 have been pending for over three years, while 981 are nearing final hearings. The Revenue Department has acknowledged that delays in resolving cases under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, are largely due to administrative reasons. The process involves issuing notices, gathering documents, and conducting hearings before delivering judgments. Cases under Section 136(2) of the Act, which are filed as appeals in the Assistant Commissioner’s court, are particularly delayed. To expedite the process, the department has mandated regular hearings every Tuesday and Thursday for revenue-related quasi-judicial cases.
To clear the backlog in Assistant Commissioner courts, the state government has ordered the distribution of pending appeal cases among parallel teams, with a directive to resolve them within six months. Additionally, Deputy Tahsildars, who handle cases related to title transfers and disputes, have been instructed to expedite case resolutions within their respective jurisdictions.
Bengaluru Urban District Deputy Commissioner, Dayanand KA said, “When I assumed office, there were 6,000 pending cases in the Deputy Commissioner’s court. Over the next year and a half, another 1,000 were added, bringing the total to 7,000. Of these, I have resolved 4,000, reducing the backlog to 3,000. However, around 9,000 cases are still pending in the Assistant Commissioner’s court. They too have been instructed to speed up the process, though new cases continue to be filed at a rapid rate in Bengaluru. The Special Deputy Commissioner’s court does not fall under my jurisdiction.”
The pending cases in Bengaluru Urban’s courts show a significant backlog. The Deputy Commissioner’s court has 3,222 pending cases, 1,892 of which have been unresolved for a long period, and 53 are awaiting orders. The Special Deputy Commissioner- North’s court has 1,950 pending cases, with 1,775 being long overdue and 285 still awaiting orders. In the Special Deputy Commissioner-South’s court, 859 cases remain unresolved, with 730 being long-pending and 12 awaiting orders.
The situation is particularly dire in the Assistant Commissioner-Bengaluru North’s court, where 6,153 cases are pending, 3,309 of which have been delayed for an extended period, with 146 cases still awaiting orders. Similarly, the Assistant Commissioner – Bengaluru South’s court has 4,171 pending cases, with 1,231 delayed and 430 awaiting orders. The Tahsildar courts also face delays, 136 cases are pending in Bengaluru North, 117 in Bengaluru South, 58 in Bengaluru East, 170 in Yelahanka, and 148 in Anekal, with various cases still awaiting final decisions.
