SC to wait for inquiry report on Karanth Layout land

The Supreme Court will wait for the report of an inquiry committee to "fix responsibility" for excluding large tracts of land from being acquired for Dr K Shivaram Karanth Layout.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and S Ravindra Bhat on Monday took note of a letter sent by the one-man committee headed by Justice (retired) K N Keshavanarayana seeking time until October 31 to complete the probe. The committee was appointed by the top court on August 3, 2018, to probe into the land acquisition for the housing colony that was proposed during B S Yeddyurappa's previous stint as chief minister in 2008.

The court had on August 20 directed the Karnataka government and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to cooperate with Justice Keshavanarayana and place the requisite record before him. Justice Keshavanarayana is a former judge of the High Court of Karnataka.

The top court is examining the compliance of its August 3, 2018, judgement that required the state government and the BDA to ensure that 3,500 acres are acquired for the housing colony. In July, the court had pulled up the state authorities for failing to provide sufficient materials to the inquiry officer.

In the judgement, the court took strong exception to alleged "connivance of influential political persons or otherwise" in order to exclude about 650 acres from being acquired for the layout. The court dismissed review petitions against the judgement on May 2, 2019.

The preliminary notification was on the acquisition of 3,500 acres of land for the layout but the issue remained mired in a legal battle and thousands of people built their houses or establishments over there.