Karnataka High Court.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: Plan approval must be considered as per the policy or rules in force on the date when the approval is granted, and not those existing at the time of filing the application, the High Court of Karnataka has held.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi gave this ruling while setting aside a single-judge order that had directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (now the Greater Bengaluru Authority) to sanction a modified building plan in favour of Sangam Enterprises to add additional floors to its 62,000-sqft property in the Majestic area of Bengaluru.
The bench passed this order in an appeal filed by the BBMP against the single-judge order in the Sangam Enterprises’ petition.
The firm had sought to utilise a Transferable Development Rights (TDR) certificate dated April 18, 2015, to add floors to its construction on two adjacent properties on Dhanvantari Road and Subedar Chatram Road.
The proposed modification intended to increase the building height from 15 metres to 29.6 metres and relax the setback by 50%, based on a BBMP circular issued in 2009 and the TDR certificates purchased by the firm.
Sangam Enterprises had moved the High Court in 2023 after the BBMP failed to approve the modified plan despite several representations. The single judge had allowed the petition on May 29, 2024, directing the BBMP to consider approving the modified plan submitted by the company.
Challenging this order, the BBMP contended that as on February 22, 2017 — the date on which the firm applied to the Karnataka Fire Service Department for an NOC for the modified plan — Section 14B of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning (KTCP) Act had been amended. The rules had been notified, and under these rules, the setback relaxation was confined to 25%.
The firm, however, argued that the modified plan should be approved in accordance with the rules that existed on the date of its application with the BBMP, on March 28, 2014.
The division bench observed that in terms of the Supreme Court judgments in the Howrah Municipal Corporation and other cases, approval of a building plan must be governed by the rules in force on the date the approval is granted, and not on the date the plan is submitted.
"The writ petitioner (Sangam Enterprises) filed an application seeking NOC for the Modified Plan from the Karnataka Fire Service Department on 22.02.2017. However, as on that date, Section 14B of the KTCP Act had been amended and the rules had been notified. In terms of the rules, the setback relaxation is confined to 25%. Admittedly, the Modified Plan is not in conformity with the said norms. Accordingly, no directions could be issued for sanction of the Modified Plan. Thus, the impugned order directing the appellants to sanction the Modified Plan, permitting the petitioner to utilise the TDR certificate dated 18.04.2015, cannot be sustained,” the bench said.