Dear Madam,
I am planning to buy a half site measuring 22x30 feet, in Singanayakahalli village, on the Bangalore-Doddaballapur road, (on the 18th km on the right hand side).

BDA  jurisdiction is upto CRPF area only, on the highway road. On the other side is the Bangalore-Mumbai railway track. The distance from the railway track to the site is 46 feet. Since the sites are under gramatana (panchayat), will there any problem in the future in buying the same?

All the documents are in place. I even enquired in the sub-registrar’s office at Yelahanka who replied in the affirmative.

N K Shankar
Dear N K Shankar,
Firstly, it is not possible to get sites without conversion certificate registered, unless it is regularised. Secondly, a distance of at least 200 feet should be maintained from any railway track, and conversion is not supposed to be given for lands within this distance. If you are able to get the registration done, despite this, you may find it difficult to sell the site at a later date.

Dear Madam,
I have given 10 lakhs as advance for an apartment in Bangalore (near Devasandra on New BEL Road) after consulting a lawyer. Now when we apply for loan for the remaining money with SBI, the bank is not giving legal clearance stating that there is no BDA NOC. Since this project is on corporation site, how necessary is the BDA NOC? Is it just a bank requirement or is it a serious issue and should we try to get back our money and not go ahead with the project?
Pramila
Dear Pramila,
Some areas within the new BBMP areas may be acquired by the BDA. In such cases BDA NOC may be required. In the old Corporation areas, BDA NOC will not generally be required, unless the lands were once notified for acquisition. It may not be a serious issue.

Dear Madam,
I am staying in the US right now and am planning to buy a plot near the upcoming International Airport in Bangalore. The dealer says he bought the land from farmers and its DC conversion has been done. But the land is still not approved by the BDA.

There are only a few plots left so we will have to decide on whether to buy it or not, as soon as possible. What should we do? What other details do we need to know from the dealer?
Charu Malhotra
Dear Charu Malhotra,
Areas near the International Airport should be approved by BIAAPA. It will not be advisable to book before such an approval because you will not know the site number and whether it is released by BIAAPA for sale or not. In any case, most new conversions and plan sanctions are linked together and are not separate steps.

Dear Madam,
I bought a residential plot measuring 30x40 in Koonmadiwala village, Anekal, which was approved by BMRDA. Now the builder from whom I purchased the plot, is blacklisted. It is an undeveloped site, therefore, 40% of the 3 acre site is reserved by the BMRDA. Apart from this, he had 55 acres of land which is not approved by BMRDA but is adjoining my site. Now he wants to sell the entire 58 acres of land, including my plot and 21 other registered plots. This came to my notice only when I visited my site on October 3, 2006.

 I saw the demarcation stone was removed and I didn’t find my site. I have a absolute sale-deed, khata in my name, with up-to-date tax paid receipt, layout plan, sanctioned by the BMRDA, DC conversion, etc.
Can the builder sell the registered plots and allot the same sized plot as of some other layout? Where can I file the complaint?
Tejpal

Dear Tejpal,
You should immediately file a suit in the civil court concerned, for permanent injunction restraining the previous owner from interfering with your possession and for declaration of title. You can also file a criminal case against him for trespass after filing an FIR with the local police.

Dear Madam,
We have purchased and registered a plot that comes under Rajarajeshwari nagar CMC, in January 2005. Betterment charges for the layout were paid sometime during 2003. We applied for khata immediately, but they are not giving the same.

Ours is a special case, where few people who purchased the plot, have received a notice from Upa-Lok Ayukta, stating that the area (24 sites), was supposed to be land for a park and it has been allotted for sites, and should not be used for construction purpose. This notice was received during April 2005.
After that, we approached the CMC a number of times. They only say khata will not be given and nothing beyond that. Last week, when we approached CMC, they said they will issue form 3 instead of khata form 19.

My questions are:
1. How is Upa-Lok Ayukta related to CMC and does the office have the right to do so? The layout is private and there is no need to leave space for civic amenities. Will there be any problem from Upa-Lok Ayukta after we receive form 3 and further?

2. If we receive form 3, can we get the plan sanctioned and construct a house?

3. Is it possible that we receive form 19, after all CMCs’ come under BMP, if so, when?
Sowmya
Dear Sowmya,
It is not clear who has approved the layout. It is also not clear if any zoning violations have taken place. The order of the Lok Ayukta has to be studied before further advice can be given. It looks like you are in a difficult situation and you may not get relief even if the areas come within BBMP limits, as the matter will still be under dispute and no Khata is issued for such properties, either by the BBMP or by the CMC. You could get the Form 3 Khata and await the final legal outcome.

Dear Madam,
I am in possession of a site formed in DC converted agricultural land for residential purpose in Thanisandra village, Bangalore. The registration is directly from the landowner /vendor (a farmer), through an absolute Sale Deed executed in November 2001.  I am paying the property tax regularly to Gram Panchayat since then.
I have not developed this plot and it is still vacant. Now the landowner wants to claim back the site since I have not developed the same even after 5 years of registration. Does the law permit such a takeover by the landowner/vendor?
Prasanna
Dear Prasanna,
There is no law which says you have to construct a house within 5 years for sites in private properties. You are entitled to retain your site. You should send a legal notice to the previous owner and follow it up with a suit if necessary to protect your possession.

Dear Madam,
We are planning to buy a house at Kaggadasapura. The builder plans for a car park below and then ground plus three floors. The third floor will be a pent house. So technically it should be four and a half floors of construction, ie, if we were to count the car park as one floor.

 Is it legal as he has only CMC approval? And how do we know whether he has encroached on the roads or not, as the roads are still not built?
Dr Shubha
Dear Dr Shubha,
The FAR for individual houses has been increased. You should determine this by looking into the plot size, the area where it is situated and the road width in front of your house. You can approach a lawyer or architect with the documents and get clarity on this. Regarding encroachments, you should compare the actual built area with the layout plan (if available).