HC bars construction on disputed CA site

The high court on Tuesday directed the Ramachandrapura Mutt not to build structures on the Civic Amenity site at Girinagar till the disposal of the petition.

The court directed the parties to maintain status-quo at the CA site. It also decided to maintain the interim stay on the Chief Secretary’s order to the Commissioner for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment to inquire allegations against the mutt and the seer until the next hearing.

Justice B Veerappa was hearing a petition filed by the Ramachandrapura Mutt challenging the cancellation of plan sanction by the BBMP that earlier passed an order granting building plan sanction and khata to Ramachandrapura Mutt on a Civic Amenity (CA) site in Girinagar.

In the order cancelling the plan sanction and khata, the BBMP commissioner said the mutt had illegally created a single-page order reportedly issued by the Bangalore Development Authority Commissioner on April 6, 1985, to claim a No Objection Certificate (NOC) which it presented to get sanction for the building plan and the khata.

BBMP enquiry revealed that the mutt did not possess the original 1985 letter which it submitted to get the NOC.

The mutt claimed to have bought 21,249 square feet of land from Vishwabharathi House Building Co-operative Society in 1979. However, the BBMP Commissioner’s order stated that sites Mutt claims to have purchased from the society are CA sites as per the modified plan of the layout. The court adjourned the hearing of the case.