Huge pendency of SC/ST land transfer cases despite 2023 amendment in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Statewide protests have erupted over the huge pendency of cases under the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act. 

Under this law — enacted in 1978 during the chief ministership of Devaraj Urs — lands granted to SC/STs can be bought or sold only after government’s approval.

If land is sold without due procedure, it should be reinstated to original owner.

Activists and Dalit organisations have lamented that despite additional legal safeguards such as the 2023 amendment (which removes time restriction on appeal and suo motu action), genuine landholders continue to be denied land due to legal hurdles and “irregularities” by ACs and DCs.  

According to revenue department data (as on Dec 17, 2025), 4,818 PTCL cases were pending across courts, while cases went against PTCL petitioners in 1,745 instances.

Last week, hundreds of activists protested at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park and sought an appointment with Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda.

The protests come at a time when Dalit activists have criticised the Congress over “diverting” SCSP/TSP Act funds for guarantees and for not conducting a comprehensive survey of manual scavengers. Some factions have also slammed the government’s decision on internal reservation for SCs. 

The Supreme Court’s judgment in the Nekkanti Rama Lakshmi vs State of Karnataka Case in 2017 created legal hurdles.

Refusing to restore the land to an applicant who filed the case after 25 years, the SC ruled that there must be a “reasonable time limit” to restore land. 

However, the Supreme Court did not define the “reasonable time limit.”

In the absence of a strict definition, the matter has been
left to interpretation. For instance, the Karnataka High Court in November 2024, considered 12 years as “unreasonable” and refused to restore the land. 

In response to the SC’s verdict in the Nekkanti Rama Lakshmi case, the Congress government moved an amendment to the PTCL Act, by specifying that there will be no time limit to restore the land if the sale deed violates the prescribed procedure.

PTCL struggle committee president Manjunath said several ACs and DCs were using the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Nekkanti Rama Lakshmi case as a “shield” and disposed of cases by citing lapse of “reasonable time.”

He sought stricter laws and better supervision by the government.

Researcher Siddharth K Joshi, who recently submitted a study on ‘Implementation of laws related to the welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,’ explained the
legal issues in the 2023 amendment.

Pointing to section 5(D) of the 2023 amendment, Joshi said the ‘no time limitation’ clause applied only to pending cases.

“As a result, cases that were rejected from 2017-23 weren’t considered at all”.

Data supports Joshi’s claim. Between Nov 1, 2018 and July 15, 2023, as many as
18,172 cases were either pending or rejected in courts (AC, DC, high court and supreme court).