Karnataka introduces law to protect properties where state schools have existed for 12 years

School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa said while introducing the Bill in the Legislative Council on March 25, “In a lot of cases, even when land has been donated for the purpose of education, the successors of the donors sometimes come forward, especially on account of the enhanced value of land and dispute the donation. We need to protect the school lands.”

According to the official statement of reasons for the new law, many schools in Karnataka were established on land donated by individuals, families or community bodies, often without formal documentation or registered transfer. These good-faith donations helped create “vital educational infrastructure” for children.

“Despite decades of undisputed public use, recent claims by successors or legal heirs, based on technical gaps in documentation, have led to litigation which has stalled construction and uncertainty over land status,” says the statement of reasons.

“Presently, there exists no dedicated legislation to protect such lands or validate informal gifts made for public education. Existing legal frameworks do not adequately address long-standing, open and settled use of land for Government educational institutions. This has left thousands of institutions vulnerable to disruption and placed State infrastructure and public investments at legal risk,” the law states.

The Bill provides “for deemed vesting of lands where a government educational institution has functioned continuously and without objection for not less than twelve years”.

Apart from allowing the state school education department to claim legal rights over land held by schools for 12 years in Karnataka, even in the cases where there are ongoing legal disputes, the new law also allows the education department to coordinate with the forest, wakf, tribal, and religious institution land authorities “to ensure lawful regularisation and protection of government educational institution lands”.

Balancing individual rights with public interest

“The proposed legislation does not extinguish valid rights unfairly but provides procedural safeguards, including a limited window for raising genuine claims and a forum for appeal. It aims to balance individual property rights with long-standing public interest, uphold the fundamental right to education and secure legal certainty for Government educational infrastructure,” the law states.

During the debate on the bill in the Council, the school education minister was asked by legislators as to what would happen to the land of government schools shut on account of the lack of students.

“Even when there is no child in a school, we must retain the land with the hope that children will come to the school and in the hope that the school will resume,” Bangarappa said.

The claim of the education department over a school property will not be affected by the absence of a registered document of transfer, the death of the donor, non-compliance with the provisions of the Transfer of Property Act 1882 (Central Act 04 of 1882) or the Indian Succession Act 1925. (Central Act 39 of 1925), the law states.

“No suit, application, appeal or proceeding shall lie in any court or tribunal against the State or any Authority regarding any right, title or interest claimed by a person in vested land where the occupation by the Government educational institution has continued for more than twelve years,” it states.

“Any suit pending on the date of commencement of this Act, relating to the title or possession of such Government educational institution lands, shall cease immediately unless compensation has already been awarded under an acquisition proceeding,” it says.

However, the law points out that any person with a registered title document for the land in question who can prove by documentary evidence that the land was never voluntarily given for use by a government educational institution can file a claim before the Grievance Redressal Authority within 30 days from the date of commencement of the Act.

The block education officer and the deputy director of pre-university education will be the estate officer for the purposes of this Act in respect of all government educational institution lands within his jurisdiction, says the new law.

On BJP MLC C T Ravi’s suggestion to digitise school land records, the minister said the Government would initiate efforts for this.

Rs 15 crore for temple property protection

Last month, the Government initiated a Rs 15-crore fund for a scheme to protect 328 temple properties from encroachments and to document temple land records and properties.

Earlier, the Cabinet approved the proposal for Rs 15 crore funds to protect the temple properties spread over approximately 38,000 acres that were previously vested in the government under the Inam Abolition Act and Land Reforms Act.

The temple proposal also includes an initiative to document the land records and properties of the temples since land has been donated by private individuals/devotees in some cases, and the district collectors or the religious endowments commissioners have no consolidated information about them.