Rural areas in Karnataka excluded from ambit of land-grab courts

The BJP government was under pressure from its own lawmakers to exclude farmers in rural areas from the ambit of the law

In a decision that is expected to have a wide-ranging impact, the Cabinet on Thursday approved an amendment that would restrict the jurisdiction of land-grabbing courts only to urban areas.

The Cabinet decided to amend Section 2(D) of the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act. The amendment Bill is likely to be tabled in the next Legislature session.

The amendment is mainly intended to keep farmers out of the ambit of land-grabbing. At present, farmers are facing cases in land-grabbing courts for unauthorised cultivation on government land.

The BJP government, however, was under pressure from its own lawmakers to exclude farmers in rural areas from the ambit of the land-grabbing law.

“This will keep small and marginal farmers and commoners from having to appear before a special court in Bengaluru,” Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said in a statement. The government had assured the Assembly in March that agricultural encroachment would be removed from the purview of land grabbing.