Taking note of the inordinate delay in pronouncing judgments after hearings and examination of evidence, Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda directed tahsildars and Assistant Commissioners to deliver the order within 15 days of completing the hearing process.
“It is observed that some revenue courts take too much time to pronounce the judgments even after completion of the hearing process. This unnecessary delay causes problems and inconvenience to the parties involved in the case, and forces them to run from pillar to post for getting their problem solved,” Mr. Gowda said during a review meeting at the district administrative complex in Kalaburagi on July 31.
The meeting was attended by Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil, Revenue Department Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar Kataria, Principal Secretary (disaster management) Rashmi V. Mahesh, Revenue Commissioner P. Sunil Kumar, Survey Settlement and Land Records Commissioner J. Manjunath, Inspector General of Stamps and Registration B.R. Mamatha and Regional Commissioner Krishna Bajpai, apart from Deputy Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners, tahsildars and other revenue officers from the seven districts in the Kalyana Karnataka region.
When informed that 3,307 cases are pending before various tahsildar courts for periods ranging from six months to five years, the Minister instructed the tahsildars to take up the task of disposing the cases in a campaign mode and upload the decisions on Bhoomi online portal.
Pointing to the vague and unclear judgments pronounced by revenue courts, Mr. Kataria directed officials to be clear, specific, to-the-point, and confine themselves to the matter at hand while drafting the judgments.
“The judgment should be clear and to the point. You need not go on adding irrelevant things. We need to understand that our judgments can be challenged in civil courts. If they are, we will have to submit the documentary evidence. It is, therefore, imperative to keep the documents ready,” he said.
Files missing from office of Gurmitkal tahsildar
When informed that the Gurmitkal tahsildar’s office had the maximum number of pending cases, the tahsildar concerned blamed the delay on files pertaining to 85 cases missing from the office.
Mr. Kataria directed the officer to check once again and prepare a report within 15 days. “If the previous officer has not handed over the files, action could be taken against them,” he said.
Mr. Gowda told the meeting that the Assembly had, in the last session, passed a Bill amending the Registration Act to provide for cancellation of property registered using forged documents, and the same was sent to the President for assent.
“Within 4 months, the amended law would be notified in the gazette. The law would then deter land-grabbers who employ forgery to get someone’s land registered in their names. There are many such cases where genuine landowners come to know about the registration of their property in some other person’s name very late. They then approach a civil court. It takes years to get the property back. With the amended law in force, there will be no scope for such illegal registration,” the Minister said.
