The Karnataka High Court on Monday stayed a single judge’s interim order that had restrained the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and set aside summons issued to Union Minister for Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy in an alleged land-grabbing case.
A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Joshi passed the order while hearing the state government’s appeal against the single judge’s June ruling. The earlier order had stalled the state government’s January 28 notification creating a five-member SIT as well as a May 29 summons issued by a tehsildar to Kumaraswamy.
Observing that the tehsildar had legal authority to summon and record evidence, the bench remarked, “There appears to be no caveat that the tehsildar does not have the power to conduct an inquiry… the order staying the summons will not be sustainable.” The matter has been posted for further hearing on November 26.
The SIT, led by Bengaluru Regional Commissioner Amlan Aditya Biswas, was constituted to investigate the alleged encroachment of 14.04 acres of government land. Following its formation, revenue officials conducted surveys and issued summons to Kumaraswamy.
Kumaraswamy challenged the proceedings before the single judge, arguing that no notification had been issued under Section 195 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act or Section 8 of the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2011. He contended that such notifications were mandatory for delegating powers, and in their absence, the SIT and related actions were legally untenable.
Countering this, the state government submitted that the summons issued on May 29 were valid under Section 28 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act and did not involve delegation of powers under Section 195. The government also argued that the single judge’s order was based on a misinterpretation of the law.
With Monday’s ruling, the division bench has effectively restored the authority of the SIT and revenue officials to proceed with the inquiry, pending final adjudication.
