Electronic signature bill among many tabled in Karnataka Assembly

The Karnataka government on Tuesday tabled several bills in the assembly, including the one that provides legal support for electronic signatures, and facilitates the payment of stamp duty through digital means. The Karnataka Stamp (Amendment) Bill, 2025, tabled by Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda seeks to amend the Act of 1957 to allow digital e-stamping within the ambit of duly stamped documents.

The Minister also introduced the Registration (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2025, proposing mandatory registration of power-of-attorney documents authorizing the transfer of immovable property, with or without consideration.

It also mandates registration of documents for any grant of immovable property by the government, and prove power-of-attorney by producing it.

The bill also proposes sending the documents electronically to the registering officers by the government officers, or certain public functionaries, as notified under Section 88.

The Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was also tabled in the Assembly, to sfeguard the government land and ensuring accountabiity among revenue officials.

It also seeks to introduce a more accurate method for measuring distance while filing cases against encroachment of government lands.

It also proposes to enhance the penalty from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 and punishment of three years of imprisonment in cases of land grabbing.

Also tabled in the Assembly was the Karnataka Land Revenue (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was introduced for more clarity regarding regularisation of unauthorised cultivation committee constituted in Assembly constituencies, and to introduce a more accurate way of measuring distance while granting land, defining government kharab land, and using and disposing such land, naming and renaming of revenue areas.

It also proposed to make the government grant land where private agricultural land is permanently lost due to alluvion or diluvion caused by natural occurrences, like change in course of river, flash floods, landslides, flooding of lakes, by suitable amendments.

The Bill also aims at bringing stringent norms to check malpractices, prevent fraudulent entries in revenue records by revenue officers, and making them more accountable.

Also tabled was the Karnataka Village Offices Abolition (Amendment) Bill 2025, to substitute the reference of the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 to respective provisions in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.