The Karnataka Revenue Appellate Tribunal, appeal and revision

1. Constitution of the Tribunal: section 40

The State Government constitutes by notification one Appellate Tribunal for the State, called the Karnataka Revenue Appellate Tribunal. It has six members:

• a Chairman, who is an officer of the rank of Regional Commissioner; and
• five members, of whom three are District Judges and the others are officers experienced in revenue administration not below the rank of Deputy Commissioner.

The Government may appoint additional members with the same qualifications if the work increases (section 40(3)). The Mysore Revenue Appellate Tribunal constituted under the Karnataka Revenue Appellate Tribunal Act, 1957 continued to function until the new Tribunal was constituted (section 40(4)).

2. Conduct of business: sections 41 and 42

• Appeals, revisions and other proceedings are heard by a Bench of two members, one of whom must be a District Judge and the other a revenue officer (section 41(1) and second proviso).
• The Chairman may, and must if a two-member Bench so thinks fit, constitute a Full Bench of not less than three.
• A single member may admit appeals and revisions (including late ones), grant stay, and deal with interlocutory matters; an order rejecting an appeal or petition may be revised by a two-member Bench (section 41(2)).
• Decision is by majority. If a two-member Bench differs on a material point, the point alone is heard by another member and decided by the majority of all three (section 41(3)).
• Headquarters at Bengaluru; Benches may sit elsewhere as the Chairman specifies (section 42).

3. Powers: sections 43 to 48

• Appellate, reference and revisional powers (section 43(1)) conferred by this Act or any other law. Powers of the earlier Tribunal stand transferred, and references in other laws to the Mysore Board of Revenue or the earlier Tribunal are read as references to this Tribunal (section 43(2)). The Government may entrust it with appellate or revisional functions under any other law (section 43(3)).
• Review (section 44). On its own motion or on application, on discovery of new and important matter not available despite due diligence, an error apparent on the record, or other sufficient reason. No order is varied without notice to the parties, and an order affecting private rights is reviewed only on the application of the party affected. Application within ninety days; sections 4, 5 and 12 of the Limitation Act, 1963 apply.
• Finality (section 45). Subject to review, every decision of the Tribunal is final and shall not be called in question in any court. This does not exclude the High Court’s jurisdiction under Articles 226 and 227, which no statute can take away.
• Supervision (section 46). It may call for returns from subordinate authorities and issue general directions and forms for their practice.
• Judicial proceedings (section 47). Its proceedings are judicial proceedings for the purposes of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (sections 229, 267 and 233), and it is a civil court for the purposes of the corresponding provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (as substituted by Act 28 of 2025).
• Regulations (section 48) on its practice and procedure, with the previous sanction of the Government.
• Reference to the High Court (section 64). In a case that a civil court could otherwise have heard, the Tribunal may refer a question to the High Court.

Other statutes send appeals to a tribunal too. Under section 118(2) of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961, an appeal from the Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner in certain matters lies to the “Karnataka Appellate Tribunal”. Check the statute under which the order was passed before naming the forum.

4. First appeal: section 49

Save as otherwise provided, an appeal lies from every original order under the Act or the rules, and from orders under section 54 of the CPC (partition of revenue-paying estates):

• order of a revenue officer subordinate to the Assistant Commissioner (for example the Tahsildar), whether or not exercising delegated powers → Assistant Commissioner;
• order of the Assistant Commissioner → Deputy Commissioner;
• order of the Deputy Commissioner → Tribunal;
• order of the Regional Commissioner → Tribunal;
• survey officers: below Assistant Director → Assistant Director; Assistant Director → Joint Director; Joint Director → Director of Survey, Settlement and Land Records; Director → Tribunal.

5. Second appeal: section 50

• first appeal decided by the Assistant Commissioner → second appeal to the Deputy Commissioner;
• first appeal decided by the Deputy Commissioner → second appeal to the Tribunal;
• first appeal decided by an Assistant Director → Director; by the Joint Director or Director → Tribunal.

An order on second appeal is final (section 50(2)). Note the special rule for claims to Government land under section 67: since the 2025 amendments, the Assistant Commissioner decides the claim, a single appeal lies to the Deputy Commissioner within sixty days, the Deputy Commissioner’s order is final, and revision lies only to the Revenue Commissioner (section 67(2)–(3)).

6. Limitation, procedure and stay: sections 51 to 55

• Limitation (section 51): first appeal within sixty days; second appeal within ninety days of the order appealed against.
• Sections 4, 5 and 12 of the Limitation Act, 1963 apply (section 52), so delay may be condoned for sufficient cause.
• A certified copy of the order accompanies the appeal, unless dispensed with (section 53).
• Powers of the appellate authority (section 54): annul, reverse, modify or confirm, or direct further inquiry or additional evidence. Additional evidence is allowed only where the lower officer wrongly refused it, the appellate authority needs it to pronounce orders, or for other substantial cause, with reasons recorded.
• Stay (section 55): the officer who passed the order may stay it to allow an appeal; the appellate authority may stay it till the appeal is decided.

7. Revision: sections 56 to 59

Section 56(1). The Tribunal, any revenue officer not below an Assistant Commissioner, and survey officers not below a Deputy Director of Land Records or Assistant Settlement Officer, may call for and examine the record of any inquiry or proceeding of a subordinate officer to satisfy themselves of its legality or propriety. All revenue officers are deemed subordinate to the Tribunal, and the Special Deputy Commissioner is not subordinate to the Deputy Commissioner for this purpose. The order may be modified, annulled or reversed only after notice and hearing (section 56(2)).

Section 56(3). Revision does not lie against an order that has been appealed. An application for revision must be presented within four months of the order. Suo motu revision of an unappealed order may be exercised within three years. Periods of court stay are excluded.

• Section 57: an order declared “final” means only that no appeal lies; the Tribunal alone may modify it in revision.
• Section 58: clerical or arithmetical mistakes may be corrected at any time after hearing the parties.
• Section 59: no order is reversed for an error or irregularity in summons, notice or proceedings unless it has in fact caused a failure of justice.

How this is examined

“Discuss the provisions relating to the constitution and powers of the Karnataka Revenue Appellate Tribunal” was the first Unit III essay in January 2026 and in the 100-mark paper of August 2024, and “Explain the provisions relating to the Karnataka Revenue Appellate Tribunal” was set in June 2025; write sections 1 to 3 and add the appeal ladder. It is also a regular short note (November 2021). A question on “appeal and revision” uses sections 4 to 7.