Authority: High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru

Order Date: 06 July 2026

Case Overview

  • Two writ appeals (Writ Appeal No. 1311/2025 c/w Writ Appeal No. 1675/2025) were filed under Section 4 of the Karnataka High Court Act seeking to set aside the order dated 25 April 2025 passed by the learned Single Judge in Writ Petition No. 15283/2015.
  • Appellants in WA 1311/2025: Joint Director of Land Records (City Survey South Range, K.R. Circle, Bengaluru), Assistant Director of Land Records (Enquiry Officer), and the State of Karnataka Revenue Department.
  • Respondents in WA 1311/2025: S Vazeer Ahmed (also known as Vazeer Pasha), Amritlal P. Jain (GPA holder), the Estate Officer of South Western Railway, Bangalore Division (retired), and Indian Red Cross Society (Karnataka State Branch).
  • Appellant in WA 1675/2025: Estate Officer, South Western Railway, Bangalore Division, represented by Sunanda Arul.
  • Respondents in WA 1675/2025: Same set of individuals and entities as above, represented by senior counsel.
  • The land in dispute (CTS No. 1047) was originally acquired by the Railway Department in the 1880s (over 600 acres) for railway lines and employee quarters. The acquisition was completed in 1900 by the British Government and later handed over by the Maharaja of Mysore to Indian Railways on 5 August 1948 (Gazette order under Mysore Act No. LVII of 1948).
  • The respondents claimed ownership of the same land, alleging it corresponded to Survey No. 2 of Bilekalli Village (also identified as CTS No. 1047). They repeatedly approached revenue authorities (Joint Director, Assistant Director) from 1994 onward. All such revisions were dismissed on grounds of mismatched survey numbers and lack of proper documentation.
  • A civil suit (OS No. 10987 of 1994) filed by S Vazeer Ahmed against the Railways resulted in an ex‑parte interim injunction, later vacated on 18 September 1997, and the suit was finally dismissed for non‑prosecution on 30 October 2002.
  • In 2006, Amritlal P. Jain filed Suit OS 2977 of 2006 for specific performance of a sale agreement dated 4 June 2002 concerning Survey No. 2 of Bilekalli. The suit was initially decreed ex‑parte on 21 July 2007, set aside on 22 August 2009 (Misc. No. 924 of 2008), and subsequently re‑tried, resulting in a decree on 25 October 2010 ordering the defendants to pay ₹3 crore plus 6 % interest.
  • The decree holder then filed Execution Petition No. 432 of 2013. In the schedule of this petition, the words “and part of CTS No. 1047” were hand‑written into the description of Survey No. 2, although the original suit and decree never mentioned CTS No. 1047.
  • The execution petition led to a delivery warrant and possession receipt dated 24 April 2014, wherein the decree holder accepted possession of the property described with the added “and part of CTS No. 1047”. No court permission or disclosure accompanied this insertion.
  • The respondents failed to disclose this amendment in the writ petition (WP 15283/2015) and suppressed material facts regarding the earlier civil suit, the execution petition, and the true scope of the property.
  • The Court observed that the respondents acted with “unclean hands”, engaged in collusive litigation, and tampered with court records, thereby violating the principle of suppressio veri, expressio falsi.

Final Outcome

  • The Court allowed both writ appeals.
  • The order dated 25 April 2025 passed by the learned Single Judge in WP 15283/2015 is set aside.
  • Consequently, the writ petition stands dismissed.
  • Each party is to bear its own costs.

Topics: Land Dispute, Railway Property, Judicial Misconduct