Karnataka HC fixes Rs 17 crore compensation for six-acre Baiyappanahalli metro parking lot

The Karnataka High Court has fixed Rs 17 crore as compensation for a six-acre land parcel that had two acquisitions in the last 50 years.

The owner had contended that the award passed was not acted upon during the first acquisition that happened in 1964. She had challenged the compensation awarded to her when the parcel was acquired for the parking space outside the Baiyappanahalli metro station.

A division bench headed by Justice Alok Aradhe said landowner B A Indiramma is also entitled to solatium at the rate of 30 per cent on the compensation amount, besides 9 per cent interest per annum for one year from July 18, 2008.

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Though the land is valued at Rs 20 crore per acre, the bench said it is of the considered opinion that 15 per cent of the compensation amount should go towards development charges (construction of sheds).

Disposing of a batch of appeals filed by the owners, BMRCL and the state government, the court observed that the land in Benniganahalli village in KR Puram was included in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in January 2007, much before the preliminary notification of the Namma Metro project in 2008.

Case background

The land was acquired for the expansion of state-owned NGEF in 1964. The NGEF did not utilise the land and moved an application for winding up. The land proposed for NEGF expansion, including the parcel belonging to the petitioner, was acquired for the Namma Metro project.

The landowner moved the high court claiming that she owns the land in question and compensation must be paid to her. The court upheld her claim in April 2012. Subsequently, she challenged the compensation and sought enhancement.