Despite government orders to resolve land dispute cases within 3 to 6 months, Bengaluru Urban District faces a significant backlog, with 16,355 cases still pending. These disputes, filed under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, are stuck in courts overseen by Deputy Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners, and Tahsildars. Notably, 10,324 cases are pending at the Assistant Commissioner level.

Among the unresolved cases, 8,937 have been pending for over three years, while 981 are approaching final hearings. The Revenue Department has attributed these delays primarily to administrative challenges, such as issuing notices and gathering necessary documents. Specifically, appeals filed under Section 136(2) of the Act are facing prolonged delays. To address this, regular hearings have been mandated every Tuesday and Thursday for quasi-judicial cases.

To expedite case resolution, the state government has instructed that pending appeals be distributed among parallel teams, with a target to clear them within six months. Additionally, Deputy Tahsildars have been directed to accelerate the resolution of title transfer and dispute cases within their jurisdictions.

Bengaluru Urban District Deputy Commissioner Dayanand KA noted the increase in cases since he took office. Initially, there were 6,000 cases in the Deputy Commissioner’s court; this number rose to 7,000, of which 4,000 have been resolved, leaving a backlog of 3,000. However, approximately 9,000 cases remain in the Assistant Commissioner’s court, and new filings continue at a rapid pace.

The backlog is particularly pronounced in various courts: the Deputy Commissioner’s court has 3,222 pending cases (1,892 long-pending), while the Special Deputy Commissioner-North’s court has 1,950 pending (1,775 overdue). The Assistant Commissioner-Bengaluru North’s court alone has 6,153 cases pending, with 3,309 long-overdue. Similar delays plague other courts, including those in Bengaluru South, North, East, Yelahanka, and Anekal.