HC to forest dept: Refund landowner’s deposit made in 1982 with 6% pa

Bengaluru: The Karnataka high court recently directed the forest department to refund Rs 4.3 lakh deposited by a Kodagu landowner in 1982, with 6% interest per annum.
One Mahabaleshwar Bhat, now deceased, deposited the amount when he sought and was granted approval to cut 349 trees standing on the 38.5 acres of land he had purchased in Biligeri village, Madikeri Taluk, Kodagu district.
On Feb 1, 1983, permission was granted for cutting of trees and he paid Rs 4,33,082, the assessed value of those trees. Bhat later realised that by mistake, he had mentioned in the application that the land in question was Sagu Bane land (adjoining Jamma lands), even though it was alienated Sagu Bane land since 1897.
Sagu Bane, Jamma lands and alienated Bane are various land tenures unique to Kodagu district. Bane means forest land and Jamma lands are granted for military service. Bhat requested the authorities for a refund of the amount paid by him. His request was turned down by the forest department on April 25, 2012, saying that the 1897 notification could not be considered in light of the coming into force of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. The appeal against the said endorsement was also rejected by the appellate authority in the forest department on April 4, 2013.
Challenging the said endorsement and the order of the appellate authority, Bhat approached the high court, reiterating what was stated in his representation. The govt also reiterated its stand. In the meantime, Bhat died and was replaced by his legal representatives in this petition in 2023.
After perusing the materials on record, Justice Suraj Govindaraj pointed out that once the land on the records of the revenue department is held to be alienated Sagu Bane land, whether the petitioner made an application showing the property to be Sagu Bane land or alienated Sagu Bane land would be irrelevant., the judge said.
"In fact, it was for the assistant conservator of forest and the chief conservator of forest to verify these from the records concerned and not go by the statement made by the petitioner himself... If at all the details were verified, it would have been clear that the land in question was alienated Sagu Bane land," the judge further noted.
Holding that the state cannot take advantage of a citizen's mistake only to retain the amount paid by him or her, the judge said, while ordering that the amount be refunded to Bhat's legal representatives with 6% interest per annum from the date of deposit to the date of payment.