Bengaluru: Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum has directed the director of municipal administration, in coordination with the principal secretary, urban development department, and the municipal authorities concerned to correct the mapping of property records on the Kaveri 2.0 registration system within two months, saying a software or data-mapping defect cannot restrict a legally recognised and transferable leasehold interest.Karnataka high court court passed the order while allowing a petition filed by Gopalarao, a builder/developer from Belagavi. The petitioner had constructed 34 flats, of which 21 had been sold and the sale deeds registered before the introduction of the Kaveri 2.0 portal.However, after the portal was introduced, sale deeds for the remaining 13 flats were not processed because the petitioner’s name did not appear as “owner” in the municipal/e-property records. The original lessor was shown as the owner, while the petitioner was listed only as “holder/taxpayer”, prompting him to approach the high court.The petitioner said he had taken a loan of around Rs 6 crore to construct the flats and was paying EMIs of Rs 50 lakh a month. He argued that the delay caused by the software issue was affecting his constitutional rights.Justice Magadum noted that the interest conveyed under Nirantara Patta (permanent lease) was not a precarious or revocable licence. The documents showed that the petitioner held a permanent/perpetual leasehold interest, which could be enjoyed subject to the conditions of the grant.While the documents did not convey reversionary ownership of the land, they constituted documents of title to the interest actually granted, the judge said. He also noted that the issue was not confined to the petitioner. A communication issued by the authority in response to a representation by Credai had acknowledged similar problems involving Nirantara Patta properties.The court observed that several properties in Belagavi city and surrounding areas were held under such arrangements. If the existing mapping system treated the original lessor as the only person entitled to be reflected in Kaveri 2.0, subsequent transactions involving leasehold interests would face similar difficulties, the judge said.“Respondents cannot, by reason of a technical deficiency in the software or the existing data-mapping mechanism, render a legally recognised and transferable leasehold interest incapable of being conveyed,” Justice Magadum observed, directing the authorities to ensure that municipal/e-property records clearly distinguish between the owner of the underlying or reversionary interest and the holder of the permanent/perpetual leasehold interest, and that the latter’s transferable interest is properly mapped and communicated to Kaveri 2.0.If the required amendment and mapping are not completed within two months, the jurisdictional sub-registrar has been directed to receive, process and register manually the sale deeds for the remaining flats in Krish Jeevan Apartment, conveying permanent leasehold rights, subject to fulfilment of all other applicable conditions.
