Karnataka HC dismisses appeals by government and Namma Whitefield RWA Foundation claiming certain private lands as Pattandur Agrahara lake bed

A view of the High Court of Karnataka. | Photo Credit: File photo A Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka has dismissed the appeals filed by the State of Karnataka and the Namma Whitefield RWA Federation Trust while affirming a single judge’s order that refused to reopen a 45-year-old Land Tribunal’s decision granting occupancy rights over 11 acres and 20 guntas of land to private individuals in Pattandur Agrahara village.The Bench, comprising Justice D.K. Singh and Justice H. Shanthi Bhushan, upheld the single judge’s November 19, 2025, verdict, which had dismissed the writ petitions filed by the government and the Trust, which had challenged the Tribunal’s 1980 order of granting occupancy rights to private individuals. The government and the Trust had claimed that the land is “Kere Angala’ (lake bed) of Pattandur Agrahara lake.Both the single judge and the Bench have held that the challenge to the Tribunal’s order was barred by delay and laches, and constructive res judicata as the challenge to legality of the right of private persons over the land was upheld both by the High Court and the Supreme Court in earlier round of litigations, which emanated from a civil suit.A century of transactionsThe disputed land in survey number-54, measuring 11 acres 20 guntas, was originally transacted through sale deeds since 1918. It eventually came to be purchased by H.B. Munivenkatappa in 1960. Following the enforcement of the Mysore (Personal and Miscellaneous) Inams Abolition Act, 1954, the land was vested in the State. Munivenkatappa applied for a re-grant, and on December 27, 1980, the Tribunal granted him occupancy rights after collecting the necessary premium.Despite this, an eviction notice issued by the tahsildar in 1979 was quashed by the High Court in 1987, and the State’s appeal was dismissed in 1988. Later, Munivenkatappa filed a civil suit in 1993 seeking a declaration that the land was “Hiduvali” (dry land) and not a tank bed, and the civil court passed decree in 1995 in favour of his legal heirs.Following this, the State government in 2004 filed a plea in the High Court, which remanded the issue back to the civil court, which in 2008 again passed an order in favour of the grantees. The government moved the High Court, which in 2016 affirmed the civil court’s order, and the Supreme Court passed an order in favour of Munivenkatappa’s legal heirs in 2018, besides dismissing the government’s review petition in 2019.However, the government filed the petition in 2018 challenging the Tribunal’s 1980 order, claiming that the 11-acre land is government tank bed area by contending that the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate claim over the land, besides questioning the genuineness of the tribunal’s order as the orginal copy was not available. However, the single judge in November 2025 dismissed this petition, in which the Trust was impleaded as a party. Published - September 18, 2026 09:11 pm IST