BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court directed the state government to frame guidelines for the appointment of the chairman of the Additional Committee under Rule 108-EE(1)(a) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Rules, 1966, for considering applications for regularisation of the unauthorised occupation of land.
The division bench of Justice D K Singh and Justice H Shanthi Bhushan directed the state to prescribe the objective and criteria, including qualifications such as appropriate legal knowledge, administrative ability, relevant experience, integrity, confidentiality and unimpeachable conduct. The HC expressed displeasure over adopting back door route to appoint a defeated candidate in the 2023 Assembly elections.
The court passed the order while partly allowing the appeal filed in 2026 by BJP MLA Gururaj Gantihole of Byndoor constituency in Udupi district, challenging the single judge’s order dated August 4, 2026.
The court quashed the notifications dated December 4, 2023, issued by the state government constituting the Additional Committee under Section 94-A(2-A) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. It also quashed the consequential notification dated December 26, 2023.
The state government appointed Ganthihole as the chairman of the committee constituted under Section 94(A)(1) of the Act on November 2, 2023, assigning it to decide 12,313 pending applications.