Purchasing house site is
the dream of a Middle class person family Unprecedented growth of urban areas,
due to Industrialization and consequent unending migration of rural folk,
agricultural labour for employment opportunities and professionally qualified
persons in search of greener pastures, migrate to metros, or mega cities A case
in point is Bangalore. It was at one time aptly called as 'Pensioner's Paradise'. It was a pleasure to see elders slowly walking, chanting, Sri
Vishnusahasranamam, in today's commercial hub of the city like, Seshadripuram,
Malleswaram, and Basavanagudi. Youngsters used to play cricket on the
roadsides, footpaths were so large which could be used for learning cycling by
children. Nowadays one has to walk holding one's breath not sure whether he can
reach home safe.
This unbridled growth of
Bangalore with comparatively better income for most of the people has made demands on housing very great. This has led to many ways, legal, illegal,
dubious, ethical or otherwise to own a piece of land and to have a shelter/roof over one's head. Bangalore basically was a small town surrounded by
number of villages. Land Developers, who landed in Bangalore, started
converting agricultural land into residential pockets. In villages, a small residential area will be there, where houses of the farmers are situated; the
houses there are given Khaneshmari No. And the residential pocket in a Village
is called Gramathana, as distinct from village as such where agricultural land
is surveyed and given Survey No. for each piece of land. Thus, every piece of
land is assigned a Survey No. (except Kharab lands) which are classified into
class 'A' and 'B', depending whether it can be made arable / cultivable, by
making certain improvements and others whose nature cannot be changed. A legal
procedure has been laid down for change of use of the land from agricultural purpose to non-agricultural residential purpose. This requires an order from
the Deputy Commissioner. Purchase and possession, use of agricultural land by
Non Agriculturalists, for purposes other than agricultural farming is
prohibited in the State of Karnataka, by law. However, land duly converted by
the Competent Authority can be purchased for development as Residential
lay-outs. Hence, the question what is conversion of land. In simple terms, it
is the permission granted by Revenue Authorities to change the usage pattern of
land from Agricultural to Non Agricultural - Residential or Industrial use. In
and around cities and towns and especially on the outskirts of Bangalore, this
is going on in a rapid phase. The Government had by its various Comprehensive Development plans, shrinking the size of agricultural land to almost 'Nil'
around Bangalore.
A conversion Order passed by the Deputy Commissioner is a serious exercise scrupulously followed by the
Revenue Authorities, after verifying the fact that there is no contravention of
the provisions of the Karnataka Land Laws relating to the provisions of the
Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1961, Karnataka Land Grant Rules, KPTCL Act, and
the Land Revenue Rules relating to Green belt. Likewise verification is also
done in respect of acquisition of any scheme of the Government and the Bangalore Development Authority.
Thus, permission accorded
by the Deputy Commissioner, for change of land use deems that there is no
violation of any of the revenue rules prohibiting conversion of agricultural
land. It is also relevant to ring forth that the burden of verification
regarding the above laws lies only on the Tahsildar, and an applicant shall not
be asked to provide any documents for the same. The said report prepared by the
Tahsildar is then forwarded to the Deputy Commissioner, with his opinion; it is
only on the receipt of the opinion that the Deputy Commissioner accords
permission as mentioned above.
The Deputy Commissioner
shall also verify and satisfy himself that the change of use does not cause any
public nuisance and that the land sought to be converted are not inconsistent
with the purpose specified in the Comprehensive Development Plan and the Outline Development Plans. Cumulatively it appears that the land on which
permission is sought is clear as far as satisfying the requirements of law
governing conversion and revenue. On going through the conditions enumerated in
the said Official Memorandum, certain duties and obligations are cast on the
applicant namely the necessity for having the Layout Plan approved by the BDA/Local Authorities like the Panchayat, Pollution Control Board, etc., which
on necessary applications clear the development of Layout as per the respective
provisions contained in the Act.'
Any prudent buyer of land should think twice before investing his hard earned money in land. Revenue
lands are sometimes regularized, in Schemes like 'Akrama-Sakrama' and approved
by the Revenue Authorities, However, if it is not regularized, a Damocles'
sword hangs on the head, any time the title held on such 'Revenue site' is not
absolute, free, marketable. In simple terms it is illegal and the buyer of such
lands will be in jeopardy of losing the land, money, and cannot hope for any
legal remedy, like compensation. As the famous Doctrine 'caveat emptor' - 'Letthe Buyer Beware' goes to say, any buyer interested in investing in land should
thoroughly examine the titles, preferably by a qualified Advocate/ Attorney,
who can do a methodical investigation of title.
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