'Create An Integrated Geospatial Platform With Digital Maps Of All Land In Karnataka Using Satellite Imagery': High Court Tells State Govt

The Karnataka High Court has directed the state government to create a unified geospatial platform which would include digital/unified, and immutable (unchangeable) maps of all land parcels in the State by leveraging high-resolution satellite imagery from agencies like Forest Survey of India (FSI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Justice Suraj Govindaraj said: "The foundational component must be a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based platform. This system would function as a digital, unified, and immutable map of all land parcels in the state. Leveraging high-resolution satellite imagery from agencies like the Forest Survey of India (FSI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), this platform is digitally demarcating and geotagging all notified forest boundaries as per  historical gazette notifications, as also conducting forest cover mapping using remote sensing data to monitor the status of forests at the state level. This unified map would then have to be integrated with all other land-related data, including the Revenue Department's cadastral maps, the Urban Planning Authority's master plans, and all other public and private land records". 

The court said that the platform will assign a Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN), or "Bhu-Aadhar," to every land parcel, linking all textual, spatial, and legal records to a single, immutable digital identity, which is to be incorporated in all land records.

These records are to be QR code enabled, date and time stamped in order to enable public verification, the court said.

The court has also suggested that the Department of Land Resources is to link e-Courts with land records and registration databases, thus providing courts with firsthand, substantive evidence, including geo-referenced maps and digital records from the unified geospatial platform.

It has further suggested setting up of a Green Watch Platform, a unified mobile app and web portal where any citizen can report an environmental violation with geotagged photos, videos, and documents.

The court has also suggested government to consider issuance of Carbon credits for persons or organisations which contribute to afforestation and other projects with measurable conservation outcomes (e.g., restoring a wetland, reforesting a degraded corridor segment, achieving a verifiable positive outcome), which would create a direct financial flow from development to conservation.

The court gave these suggestions while observing, “Forests and lung spaces in and around a city offer valuable respite from nature's vagaries, ground water protection, protection from pollution etc. Despite their importance, forests face constant threats from deforestation and diversion for non-forest purposes”. 

The bench emphasised that that while laws like the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 mandate that any diversion of forest land for non-forest use requires prior approval from the central government, illegal diversion still occurs in some areas, leading to degradation and loss of forest cover.

"The cumulative effect of these activities is not only a loss of forest land but a profound destabilisation of the entire ecosystem that is vital for the survival of wildlife, flora, and the communities that depend on them, which today also includes humans.In cities like Bangalore it can result in reduced water table, increased pollution, dust and the like which are not conducive, there is therefore a need for maintaining green spaces as lung spaces to have better environmental balance in cities,” it said.

It opined that the lack of interoperability between different departmental databases means that a seemingly "clean" title in one system (e.g., Revenue) can conceal a fatal legal defect in another system (e.g., Forest).

"The problem is not the absence of digital records but the absence of a single, authoritative, and consolidated database that all government departments must mandatorily reference.The solution lies in radical transformation from siloed digitisation, to a unified integrated technological platform that serves as a single source of verifiable and credentialised truth for all land-related information,” the court added. 

The bench thus issued a slew of directions for the resolution of land disputes and the protection of forest areas through the use of technology, including the formation of a committee to oversee such implementation. 

The court has given the directions while dismissing the petition filed by Mohammed Shoaib and others challenging the six show cause notices, dated 13.11.2020, issued by the state authority under Section 64A of the Karnataka Forest Act.

The authority called upon the petitioners to submit all the relevant documents in the enquiry to be held on 19.11.2020. The notices were in pursuance of a government notification dated 08.01.1921, whereunder the State forest came to be constituted, on the ground that the Petitioners had encroached on the land.

Dismissing the petitions, the bench, on going through the records, permitted the petitioners to place on record before the authority mitigating factors, available for consideration of time for eviction of the petitioners from the lands coming within the boundaries of the notification dated 08.01.1921.

Respondents were directed to consider the said mitigating factors and pass such orders as required within 30 days thereafter.

Appearance: Advocate Chandan N K For Petitioner.

AAG Kiran V Ron a/w AGA Mahantesh Shettar for Respondents.

Citation No: 2025 LiveLaw (Kar) 281

Case Title: Mohammed Shoiab AND State of Karnataka & Others

Case No: WRIT PETITION NO.19674 OF 2024 (GM-FOR) C/W WRIT PETITION NO.392 OF 2021.

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