Supreme Court suspends Karnataka High Court's order allowing tehsildar to proceed in inquiry against H D Kumaraswamy

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed for keeping in abeyance for two weeks an order by the Karnataka High Court division bench, which permitted the tehsildar to proceed with an inquiry against against Union Minister and former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy in connection with alleged land grants case.

A bench of Justices Pankaj Mittal and Justice Prasanna B Varale passed the order after hearing senior advocate C A Sundaram and advocates Balaji Srinivasan, Nishanth A V and Ms Harsha Tripathi for Kumaraswamy.

Terming the action against him as "institutionalised harassment," Kumarswamy's plea assailed September 08, 2025 order by the High Court, which vacated the interim protection earlier granted to him by staying the summons issued to the him by the tehsildar.

The petitioner was aggrieved with the order, as it revived coercive proceedings and exposed him to an imminent risk of dispossession.

His plea contended, the actions of the State were a clear manifestation of political vendetta. It alleged he has been systematically targeted through a combination of administrative orders and judicial overreach in contempt proceedings.

"Repeated attempts have been made at the State’s behest to dispossess him from land lawfully owned by him, by wrongfully invoking contempt jurisdiction, constituting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) without authority, and issuing coercive summons to him," it said.

The petitioner vehemently submitted that he has a valid title and interest in the said properties, and there was no challenge whatsoever to his title thereof.

His plea claimed he was the lawful owner of several land parcels in Kethaganahalli Village, Bidadi Hobli, Ramanagara.

In 2011, a former Member of Parliament filed a complaint filed before the Karnataka Lokayukta alleging illegal land grants in Kethaganahalli Village. Crucially, he was not named in this complaint.

"Notwithstanding the closure of the Lokayukta proceedings and in furtherance of its political vendetta, the State on January 28, 2025 constituted an SIT under Section 195 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964 supposedly to conduct an enquiry into the encroachment of the said lands," it said.