BELAGAVI: In a major move aimed at preventing land grabbing and fraudulent Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC) mutations, the Karnataka Revenue
Commissionerate (KRC) has issued fresh directions regarding lands of which deceased owners (khatedar) are shown as having “No Legal Heirs” in the state’s e-Pouthi software system.
The circular, issued by the KRC’s Bhoomi Monitoring Cell in Bengaluru on May 20, 2026, has directed all deputy commissioners across the state to initiate strict action in cases where illegal RTC mutations are suspected.
According to the order, during the Aadhaar linkage and e-Pouthi verification process, if village administrative officers record that a deceased landholder has no legal heir, the land concerned will automatically be flagged as “Government Reservation” in the system. Further, transactions related to such lands will be blocked in the Kaveri software to prevent illegal sale, transfer or registration.
The order also states that such cases will be transferred to Tahsildar Grade-1 courts through the Revenue Court Case Management System (RCCMS) and treated as disputed matters. Tahsildars have been instructed to issue public notices and conduct detailed inquiries. If no genuine heirs are identified even after inquiry, the land will be taken over by the government under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.
Officials clarified that if legal heirs emerge later, they can approach the authorities, and the “Government Reservation” status can be revoked through orders issued by the assistant commissioners (revenue) of respective subdivisions.
The move is being viewed as a significant step to curb increasing land grabbings reported in several districts, where land mafias allegedly collude with government officials to illegally enter their names in the RTC records by exploiting the absence of real owners or heirs.
