Land Reforms in India

Changes brought about in the agrarian structure through direct intervention are
characterized as land reforms

Pre-independence:
● Before independence, India was under the despotic rule of British who
encouraged intermediaries to collect more revenues
● However, this was not the beginning as India was under the feudal clutches since
ages
● The Emperors who ruled India divided the lands into Jagirs & handed over
them to Jagirdhars
● These jagirdhars further created intermediaries called zamindars to look after
their jagirs & collect revenues from the peasants who cultivate in those lands
● After British established their paramountcy continued the intermediaries
under Permanent Settlement Act & assigned the lands to Zamindars
permanently to collect the revenues
● The zamindars as intermediaries acquired the ownership rights over huge
land holdings

Land Revenue Systems during the British Rule in India:

Zamindari System:
● Zamindari System was introduced by Cornwallis in 1793 through
Permanent Settlement Act
● It was introduced in provinces of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa & UP
● Here, land revenue was collected from the farmers by landlords known as
Zamindars

Ryotwari System:
● Ryotwari System was introduced by Thomas Munro & Alexander Reed in
1820 in Madras, Bombay, parts of Assam & Coorgh provinces of British India
● Land revenue was paid to the state directly by cultivator (ryot)

Mahalwari System:
● The Mahalwari system was introduced by William Bentick in Awadh & Agra
● Later extended to Central Province, North-West Frontier, Punjab, Gangetic Valley
of British India
● In this system, the whole village was treated as one unit for the payment of
the revenue

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 ● Land revenue was collected by Village headman on behalf of the whole
village.

After independence
● After independence institutional reforms were needed to change the pattern of
feudal society to socialist
● A committee for the first time was appointed in 1949 to initiate the land
reforms
● The committee was named as 'Congress Agrarian Reforms Committee' also
known as Kumarappan committee headed by J.C.Kumarappan
● It was the beginning of land reforms in India
● The committee recommended radical institutional reforms; it recommended the
abolition of Zamindari System

Objectives of the land reforms

It was basically to stop the exploitation of the actual tillers of the soil & pass on the
ownership of that land to them

The government defined the objectives as,

1. To remove impediments to increase in agricultural production as arise from
the agrarian structure inherited from the past, &
2. To eliminate all forms of of exploitation & social injustice within the
agrarian system, to provide security for the tiller of soil & opportunity to all
sections of the rural population

1.Abolition of Zamindari System:

● From the year 1949 to 1951, the states in India – independently brought into
effect the zamindari abolition act
● Uttar Pradesh was the first state in India brought into effect the law related
to abolition of zamindari system
● Subsequently states like Madras (later called Tamil Nadu), Bihar, MP, etc
implemented the Zamindari abolition act almost on the lines of UP Zamindari
abolition Act.

Important Provisions of the Zamindari Abolition Act:

1. Zamindars are allowed to possess some part of their lands for personal
cultivation
● Those retained lands were called `Khudh Khast` lands
● Surplus lands shall be confiscated from zamindars
2. Compensation shall be paid for the lands taken away

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 ● With regard to this, the government's decision would be final & non-
justiciable
3. Surplus lands shall be given to the tenants with a minimal price
● Tenants who got lands were called as 'Bhoomidhars',
● Tenants who were not in a position to pay entire amount, can pay amount
in installments & were called as `Sirdars`
4. Barren lands, ponds, forests were taken away from Zamindars & were
transferred to village panchayats

Provisions Challenged
● The above provisions were challenged in the court, claiming they were
against the Article 31 of the Constitution of India
● Subsequently, government made changes to the Constitution
● Golaknath, a zamindar from Punjab challenged the amendment of the
Constitution and confiscation of his lands in the Court of law
● Supreme Court gave judgment in favour of Golaknath, it ruled that parliament
cannot amend the Constitution
● However, subsequently to accommodate the Zamindar Abolition Act & to
bring land reforms more freely & effectively the Article 31 of the
constitution was repealed

2. Tenancy Reforms:
It included
a. Regulation of Rent
b. Security of Tenure
c. Ownership Rights for Tenants

● Ensuring fair rent, security of the tenure, converting the tenants into owner
cultivators were major objectives
● Surplus lands confiscated from Zamindars were given to tenants on a minimal
amount which was 8 to 10 times of annual rent
● The lands were given to only those tenants who were paying the rent in the form
of cash
● Bargadars or Sharecroppers were those tenants who pay the rent in the
form of kind and there was no accommodation to them in the act and
hence there was no advantage to them with regard to availing the land
● However, Sharecroppers were accommodated in Tenancy acts subsequently
● Terms & conditions between the landlords & the peasants were always oral
● It has become difficult to identify the tenure of tenants worked in respective lands
● The fair rent objective of the tenancy reforms was never implemented

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3. Reorganization of Agriculture
It included
a. Redistribution of Land
b. Consolidation of Holdings
c. Cooperative Farming

Land Ceiling Act

● To retain the lands effectively from the Zamindars, finally government
introduced the land ceilings Act
● The Kumarappan Committee, the All Indian Kisan Sabha recommends the
ceiling of land from zamindars
● In 1952, Kumarappan Committee recommended the maximum size of land a
landlord can retain, it was three times of the size of the economic holding i.e.
Sufficient livelihood for a family
● The All India Kisan Sabha recommended that the land that can be retained by a
family shall be 25 acres
● In 1959, the following decisions were taken in congress session of Nagpur;
● All the provinces should immediately implement land ceiling Acts
● surplus lands shall be brought under co-operatives

Analysis of Land Ceiling Act:

● From 1960 to 1961, several States brought into force the Land Ceiling Acts
● However, there was no proper result till 1972 due to;
● the zamindars transferred the lands on to the names of their farm servants,
● the act exempted the plantation industries
● co-operative farming has got an exemption which was tactfully utilized by
the landlords
● In 1972, Based on the recommendations of the 'Central land reforms
committee', government of India issued following new guidelines to the
states with regard to land ceiling act;
1. Ceiling for double crop irrigated lands; limit shall be 10 to 18 acres
2. Ceiling for single crop irrigated lands (wet land); limit shall be 27 acres
3. Ceiling for dry land (unirrigated) it shall be 54 acres
● The above ceiling measurements were applicable to a family of 5 members
● The family with more than 5 can have an additional area of land for each
additional member but the same cannot be extended beyond 20 acres

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Bhoodan Movement:

● Bhoodan was an attempt at land reform, at bringing about institutional

changes in agriculture, like land redistribution through a movement & not
simply through government legislation
● Eminent Gandhian constructive worker Acharya Vinoba Bhave drew upon
Gandhian techniques & ideas such as constructive work & trusteeship to
launch this movement in early 1950s
● Vinoba Bhave organized an all-India federation of constructive workers, the
Sarvodaya Samaj, which was to take up the task of a non-violent social
transformation in the country
● He & his followers were to do padayatra to persuade larger landowners to
donate at least one-sixth of their lands as bhoodan or ‘land-gift’ for
distribution among landless & land poor
● The target was to get as donation 50 million acres, which was one-sixth of
the 300 million acres of cultivable land in India
● The idea was that each average family of 5 should give up to one-sixth of their
land accepting the poor landless man as amember of the family
● The movement, though independent of the government, had the support of
the Congress, with AICC urging Congressmen to participate in it actively
● Eminent former Congressman & a prominent leader of the Praja Socialist Party,
Jayaprakash Narayan withdrew from active politics to join the Bhoodan
movement in 1953
● Vinoba received the first donation of land on 18 April 1951 in Pochampalli
Village in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh
● In less than 3 months he had covered ~200 villages in this region & received
12,200 acres as donation
● The movement then spread to North, particularly Bihar & UP
● In the initial years the movement achieved a considerable degree of success,
receiving over 4 million acres of land as donation by March 1956
● After this the movement lost momentum & very little new land was received
as donations
● Also, a substantial part of land donated was unfit for cultivation or under
litigation
● Perhaps this was one reason why out of ~4.5 million acres of Bhoodan land
available only about 6,54,000 acres was actually distributed among 200,000
families by the end of 1957.
● By early 1961, about 872,000 acres of land had been distributed.

Meanwhile, towards the end of 1955, the movement took a new form, that of
Gramdan or ‘donation of village’.

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● Again taking off from the Gandhian notion that ''all land belonged to ‘Gopal’
or God'', in Gramdan villages the movement declared that all land was owned
collectively or equally , as it did not belong to any one individual
● It was started in Orissa and was most successful there
● By the end of 1960 there were more than 4,500 Gramdan villages out
which 1,946 were in Orissa
● It has been argued that this movement was successful mainly in villages where
class differentiation had not yet emerged & there was little if any disparity in
ownership of land or other property , such as those inhabited by certain tribal
communities.
● By the 1960s the Bhoodan/Gramdan movement had lost its elan despite its
considerable initial promise
● Its creative potential essentially remained unutilized.
● The programme, however, appeared to drag on indefinitely, essentially forgotten
but for rude reminders such as the Bihar government decision of June 1999
to dissolve the State Bhoodan Committee for its inability to distribute even
half the Bhoodan land available over past 38 years
● This is not surprising as far more successful movements led by Gandhiji continue
to be wrongly characterized in this fashion by some sections for having based
themselves on similar principles.
● The potential of the movement was enormous, based as it was on the idea of
trusteeship or that all land belonged to God

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 Land reforms - Karnataka

Introduction
● The increase in the agriculture production, distribution of wealth, and
proposals to revise rules pertaining to the land in the interest of the public
is called the land reform

It includes the following 2 components:

a. Redistributing of lands
b. Reforming the tenency

Its aims:
1. To procure for the tiller the ownership of the soil
2. To bring about equality in income & wealth
3. To improve agriculture production
4. To distribute the land above the ceiling limit among the landless

● It was particularly important in Karnataka as agriculture is was main for

bringing about progress in other spheres of activity
● Karnataka Govt. thought of bringing about important changes in the ownership
of the land
● Till now, the major part of the land was in the hands of Jahgirdars,
jameendars & Inamtedars
● The landless & the tenants worked for them
● As the population increased, they had to adhere to tenancy system as there was
no alternative for them
● Hence, the number of people depending on the land increased
● Exploiting their miserable plight, landlords subjected them to illegal terms
of work

For the purpose of studies the land reform movement can be divided into:
a. Till 1947
b. From 1947 to 1956
c. From 1956 and onwards

Upto 1947
● The statutes regarding the land reform can be traced back to the times of the
traditional palegars, Mysore rulers, Huder Ali, Tipu Sultan, Purnaiah and even to
the British period
● The rules passed by them about the holding of the lands may not be considered
as Land reforms statutes

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 ● Because they mostly pertained to land measurement, supervision,
preservation & collection of land revenue
● Moreover everything was in the possession of government
● In 1881, when the representative assembly was constituted, a group of
people who called themselves social reformers joined them
● They were mostly respectable zamindars & were nominated by district
commissioner between 1881 & 1947
● These members merely participated in talks with Dewan regarding
administrative matters
● But they had no right to pass statutes
● The only important statute passed by the representative assembly was with
reference to Inam lands & tenants
● Arrangements were made send taxes from the Inam lands to the government
treasury
● Inamtidars who obtained lands from the government paved the way for the
tenancy system

Between 1947 & 1956

● This period was important one from the point of view of land reforms
● Certain laws were passed regarding Inam Lands & tenancy system
● The Inam lands were abolished in 1947
● Certain rules were framed, they were not made into laws
● 'The Mysore Alienated Villages Act' passed in 1950 gave protection to the
right of the tenants
● 4 years later, it came into a law & in 1954, it was termed as the
Mysore Tenancy Act
● It abolished the Inamti system
● This act did not apply to property of the religious institutions
● In 1955, the 'Religious & Charitable Act was passed & abolished the 'Inams'
of these institutions
● Thus the 'Jahgirs' of the Sringeri Matha was annulled
● The Congress govt. at the centre, had decided to abolish the Jahgirdari system at
the state level to bring about an overall land reformation
● The Communist Slogan for the formation of a classless society, suddenly
started by the Congress
● But it was not easy to bring about the lands belonging to the charitable
institutions within the jurisdiction of this land
● The religious institutions had own influential political parties to support
them
● Hence the religious Inamti system came to an end a year later

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 ● But the interest of the tenants was not protected. Those who held for over 12
years were given permanent tenancy
● Besides, if the tenant had any dues to be paid, or if he could not till the land, the
land owner could easily expel him and take back the land into his possession and
the tenant
● Tenant was not to pay more than one-third of the produce
● The land owners fully made use of the enactment of such land acts

Land Reforms: 1956 and Onwards:

● Soon after the integration of Karnataka, many land reforms were passed
● Coorg, parts of Bombay, of Madras & of Hyderabad where Kannada was spoken
became integrated with the Karnataka state
● For administrative convenience, the state has been divided into 4 divisions
● Their main administrative offices are located in the centres of – Bangalore,
Mysore, Belgaum & Gulbarga
● These parts were merged at different stages & the administrative machinery was
being run accoridng to laws that were in vogue in those parts
● Hence there was much disparity between land reform acts of other parts, &
those of the Mysore state
● So it became imperative uniform land act as to be applicable to the whole state
● The laws from various parts were collected and codified.
● Besides the rich had owned lands much above the ceiling limits & tenants had to
be saved from exploitation
● In May 1957, under the presidentship of B.D. Jatti, a commission was
formed to send reports

B. D. Jatti Committee (1957-58)

● A committee was formed, with B.D. Jatti as its president in May 1957 in
order to send a report regarding agricultural land laws & tenancy contracts
● This is known by the name: "The Mysore Tenancy & Agricultural Land Law
Committee'
● It sent its report to the Government in September 1957
● A survey was made of land tenancy system that was being followed in different
parts of the state & the following remedial measures were recommended
1. To confirm the ownership of the land to the tenant
2. Ownership of the land to be accorded to the families depending upon the
size of the family
3. Lands to the owner for self cultivation
4. Compensation to be fixed for the land owners who lose their land
5. Acquisition of the land from non-agriculturists

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On the basis of the principle, 'the tiller is the owner of the soil', the following
recommendations were passed
A. Abolition of the Tenancy & Zamindari System
B. Forbidding lease System
C. The cultivator is the owner of the land
D. The Zamindars could possess only so much of land as they could for self
cultivation & not the entire area of the land which belonged to them

The B.D. Jatti Report was placed before the assembly in June 1958 to seek the
opinion of the members.
● The matter was discussed for 10 days & finally entrasted to the select
committee consisting of 44 members, selected from both the houses
● The committee met 64 times, held detailed discussion & sent the final report to
the government in March 1961

Land Reforms Acts of 1961-1965 (Land Ceiling Act)

● In 1961, the Select Committee, with a few amendments submitted its report
to the government
● In 1961 it was accepted by the assembly & got the sanction of the president,
and thus became a statute
● Though it came into effect in 1965, it is still being called the 1961 Statute

Its chief features are:

1. No Institution is empowered to possess lands
2. Mo changes is made regarding the proposition of the produces to be paid by the
tenant to the landlord
3. If the lord desires to vacate the tenant, he must submit his complaint within the
period of 1 year
4. The land ceiling fixed for the family should not exceed 27 standard acres
● A family consisting of 5 members can have dry lands upto 216 acres
5. Owner can have the land restored for the purpose of self cultivation
6. The Govt. should take over the tenancy land & later on pass it to the farmer
7. The ceiling limit for the plantations is 100 acres
8. Leasing the land for tenancy purpose is forbidden
9. Those who lose the land by the tenancy act should be paid a compensation of
10,000 in one installment
10. The district magistrates are to constitute civil courts at district level
& lawyers are to be allowed to appear before land courts
Exceptions:
The land reform act does not apply to the following persons
● The minorities (those who are below 18)

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 ● The petty land owners, unmarried ladies, widows, mentally retarted people or
physically handicapped persons, those who are in military or naval service such
persons could own lands within the ceiling limit

Salient Features of the Land Act (1961-65)

● This act forbade the system leasing the land
● The non-agriculturists are not eligible to buy agricultural lands
● The restoration of the land once let out for tenancy is not allowed
● But the landlord can have the land restored for the purpose of constructing a
storehouse or a factory or farm house or self cultivation if the tenant does not
give back the fixed share of the yield, or if he unauthorisedly sublease the land
● If he does not till the land for over 2 years or if he renders the land
uncultivable, the land owner has the right to get the land restored
● In all these cases the discretion of the land tribunal was final
● While having the land restored the landlord had no right to demand lands more
than he needed. The excess would be taken over by the government

Important sections
● Section 63 focused on the ceiling imposed on landholding
● Section 79A imposed restrictions prohibiting non-agriculturists from the
acquisition of land. Firms and individuals from a non-agricultural or non-farming
background, earning income more than 25 lakhs in INR, are not allowed to
purchase any agricultural land in Karnataka
● Section 79B stated persons or firms related to farming or agriculturists can
purchase, hold and own agricultural lands
● Section 79C defined the penalty to be imposed for falsely claiming ownership of
agricultural land. Violating Sections 79A & 79B allowed the revenue department
to investigate and impose actions
● Section 80 barred the transfer of land to non-agriculturists
● Section 81 Whoever contravenes any provision shall be punished with
conviction or with fine or by both by a magistrate
● Similar restrictions were imposed on leasing and mortgage of agricultural land.

Amendment of the Land Reforms Act 1974

● Criticism poured in from all directions when the land reform Act was passed in
1964. Certain suggestions & proposals were made
● The central government also pondered over it & suggested to make it purposeful
and meaningful
● Consequently the 1961 Act was revised and amended

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 ● It was placed before the legislature in 1973, with certain restrictions & limitations
regarding tenancy & became a statute in 1974
● The amendments made to 1961 statute are of great importance
● The 1974 Act is said to be virtually the First Land Reform Act & its slogan
was 'The tiller is the owner of the soil'

Amendments included:
1. The decision of the Land Tribunal cannot be questioned by any district
court. A writ can be filled only in High court if its decision is not
satisfactory
2. Tenancy land was classified into 3 categories – A,B and C&D
3. The tenants, in order to take possession of the land belonging to the ABC group
had to pay 20 times of total produce in 20 years in equal installments, & 20 times
of the total produce belonging to the D group
● He will have the possession of the land after the complete payments.
4. Those people whose income is >12,000 from non-agricultural professions or
source had no right to buy the land
5. The land ceiling is based on the classification of the land. One can have
● 'A' group lands up to 10 acres
● 'B' group up to 20 acres
● 'C' & 'D' groups up to 40 acres
6. No ceiling limit was fixed for coffee, tea & rubber plantation

The Karnataka Land Reform is said to be the best & the man responsible for it
was Devaraj Urs

Salient Features
● With the exemption of the army and the navy personnel, the tenancy and Inamti
lands belonged to the government. Hence, concessions that were extended to
Hindu widows, minorities, self cultivators & charitabe institutions were all
annulled.
● The wage earner or the watchman cannot be considered and a tenant
● The right of possession of the land accorded by the previous reform was
withdrawn
● If the land was to be given for tenancy, the owner would lose the right over the
land
● The land tribunal court was the final authority to settle the dispute that would
arise between the tenant and the owner
● The government had no right to revise it
● The Judicial Committee were being supported by local members & bureaucratic
officials

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● The last date to submit petitions to the Judicial Committee was fixed as
December 31st, 1974. Then it was postponed to June 30, 1979
● To solve the problems that arose later, the 1979 statutes were amended,
introducing several by laws.
● By 1981, out of 8.13 lakh petitions submitted to land tribunal ~7.71 lakhs of
disputes were decided (within a span of 9 years)
● Out of 175 taluks, in nearly 110 taluks, 98% of the petitions have been dealt with
and settled.
● In an area of 1.64 lakhs of acres, tenants have been accorded ownership of
land to extent of 53,330 acres.
● The excessive land of 1.5 lakhs of acres have been reserved to be distributed
among the landless, and for this purpose
● The Land Grants Consultative has been formed
● By adopting these decisive measures the government put an end to the unwieldy
power and possession of the landlords
● The tenancy system has virtually come to an end.
● The tiller has became the owner of the soil
● The excessive land has been distributed among the landless
● This system has brought about noticeable changes in the social and econimic
spheres
● Those who lost ownership of land had to be given compensation
● The fixation & the payment came into the jurisdiction of the
Assistant Commissioner
● The fixation was to be below the market value
● The secretariat set up a welfare committee to help farmers
● While distributing the land among the harijans and the girijans & confering
ownership on them, the brokers began to exploit them
● In some cases, some of the wealthy people tried to grab lands within them
by offering them temptations
● The government in 1978 passed a statute forbidding the Harijans and the
Girijans to alienate their lands. The high court confirmed it
● Thus Harijans & Girijans could not sell their lands
● In order to possess the ownership of the land, the tenant had to pay a
certain amount of compensation to the owners through the government
● Many were not in a position to pay it. They were able to pay only 20%. The
remaining 80% had not been paid
● So they were in a dilemma regarding the ownership
● Looking into the pros & cons of the problem, in 1984 the government
decided to pay compensation to the owners
● This is a great service done by the Janata Government

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The Key Amendments to The Karnataka Land Reforms Act in 2020

The Act that has facilitated the removal of certain restrictions on purchasing &
owning agricultural land

Amendment To Section 63 Of The Act

● The ceiling on holding and acquisition of agricultural land has been increased
from 10 units to 20 units
● This threshold is applicable for a person who is not a family member or who does
not have a family or for families with 4 members
● For a family with more than 5 members, the ceiling has an additional 4 units
allotted for each member, but not to exceed 40 units.
● 1 unit of land is equivalent to 5.4 acres

Sections 79A, 79B, And 79C Of The Act Repealed

● The restrictions of acquiring & owning agricultural lands specifically by firms or

individuals related to farming have been lifted off.
● Hence non-agriculturists with an income of more than INR 25 lakhs can now buy
and own agricultural land in Karnataka
● Section 79 (A), (B) and (C), that regulated the ownership of agricultural land,
have been deleted.
● Earlier : The Section stated that a person with an income above Rs 25 lakhs from
non-agricultural sources would not be considered a farmer, even if their family
background included agriculture
● While the cap originally was 2 lakhs, in 2015, it was raised to 25 lakhs
● Now: Following the amendment, any Indian individual, registered trust,
institution or company can purchase farmland irrespective of their income
from non-agricultural sources
● Also, no new cases under deleted provisions will be registered from the date
of publication of the Ordinance

Amendment Of Sections 80 And 81 Of The Act

● The restriction on the sale of agricultural land to non-agriculturists or firms

& individuals not related to farming has been removed.
● Certain restrictions are, however, still applicable on the transfer of specific
categories of agricultural land
● Besides, Class A land irrigated, leveraging water from a dam, can only be utilized
for farming and agriculture

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Insertion Of A New Provision In Section 80-A Of The Act

● A new provision, Section 80-A, ensures that the changes do not apply to any
property owners who have received their land under the Karnataka
Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes Act (Prohibition of Transfer Of Certain
Lands), 1978
● Hence it will not affect individuals belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled
Tribe. Agricultural land owned by them will continue to remain as farmland

Key Facts Related To The Amendment Of The Act

● The Amendment of the Karnataka Reforms Act was passed on September

28, 2020, through a voice vote in the Karnataka State Assembly
● The bill will enable families who are not agriculturists but have an interest
in farming, to invest in agricultural land.
● Furthermore, it has been stated that innovative & modern techniques can be
introduced to improve agricultural production.
● Henceforth it will increase agricultural exports, thus spurring the state’s earnings
● Another remarkable achievement of the amendment is the withdrawal or
dismissal of about 13814 pending cases
● These cases were lodged for violating Sections 79A & 79B, involving thousands of
acres of land almost worth crores of rupees
● Earlier the sections befitted the benefits of the farmers while they tried to sell
their land

Karnataka moves to amend SC/ST land transfer law

Dalit groups have been demanding removal of the time bar for claims on lands that
were originally granted to them but were subsequently sold or taken over by others.
● State government has tabled a Bill that facilitates the removal of the time bar on
persons from SC/ST communities to stake claim to land granted to them by the
state but which was acquired by third parties without their active awareness.
● It will have a significant impact on land ownership in the state
● The Karnataka Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes Prohibition of
Transfer of Certain Lands (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was tabled in the state
legislature on July 19
● A special Cabinet meeting approved the amendment of the PTCL Act to remove
the time limit for the land owner to file a complaint under Section 5(1) of the Act in
case the land allocated to the SCs & STs has been transferred without the
permission of the government
● Budget on July 7 has stated that the government was intent on amending the
PTCL Act

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 ● It said "In order to enable SC/ST land grantees to appeal for restoration of
land, suitable amendments will be made to the Karnataka SCs & STs
(Prohibition of
The Karnataka Scheduled Castes & Scheduled
Transfer of Certain
Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act,
Lands) Act, 1978 by
1978
prescribing timeline ● It was originally enacted to ensure that land
in the Act itself" granted to the less privileged should be restored to
● As per the proposed Bill original grantee or their heirs even if the land has
that was tabled in the been procured by others
state legislature, the ● The law lies at the core of hundreds of land
Karnataka SC & ST disputes.
(Prohibition of Transfer of ● It came into force in 1979
Certain Lands) Act, 1978 ● It was originally enacted to ensure that land
will be amended to say granted to the less privileged should be
restored to the original grantee or their heirs
that
even if the land has been procured by others
● “there shall be no
● Hence the law lies at the core of hundreds
limitation of time or of land disputes
reasonable time to ● This law which was introduced in 1978 is
invoke the provisions of retrospective in nature & is considered an ex post
this Act” and that the facto law.
new provision will ● This law was created as a social welfare Act aiming
“apply to all cases to protect & provide land for the poor members of
pending before all the the SCs & STs
competent authorities The Act says:
and all courts of law” ● To provide for the prohibition of transfer of certain
lands granted by the government, to persons
belonging to the scheduled castes & scheduled
Concerns & demand:
tribes in the state,
● The government has ● It means any land granted to the landless
stated in the Bill that the agricultural labourers belonging to scheduled
clauses in the original law castes & scheduled tribes, cannot be purchased.
for non-alienation of land ● Anyone who purchases such a property, will not
granted to SC/ST get clear & marketable title & such property will be
communities & the eventually acquired by Government & returned to
provision for cancellation the original owner without any compensation to
of grants where the land is the purchaser
illegally alienated were not ● It bars the transfer of land even by means of “a
sale, gift, exchange, mortgage (with or without
enough to help the SC/ST
possession), lease or any other transaction”.
grantees.
● Hundreds of acres of land acquired by top
● Their “ignorance & politicians in Karnataka are purported to have
poverty have been originally been SC/ST land that were acquired by
exploited by persons means of gift deeds & other means

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 belonging to the affluent & powerful sections to obtain sales or mortgages either
for a nominal consideration or for no consideration at all & they have become
victims of circumstances
● Thousands of acres of land acquired around cities like Bengaluru for private
purposes were originally government lands granted to landless SC/ST community
members
● Politicians & big builders are among those alleged to have acquired the
land that was, in fact, barred from acquisition under the PTCL law.
● Hence, the SC/ST groups have been demanding the removal of the time bar for
claims on lands that were originally granted to them but were subsequently sold
or taken over by others without government clearances

Limitation:
● But due to a lack of clarity & understanding between the judiciary &
administration there exists this large number of cases still hanging in the
balance.
● Currently over 10000 cases are pending before the office of the Deputy
Commissioners across the State Karnataka

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