SC asks BDA to protect poor and middle income groups in Shivram Karanth layout

The Supreme Court has asked the Bangalore Development Authority to consider grievances of certain persons from the poor and middle income groups who have purchased sites from the people whose land were directed to be acquired for the formation of the Dr Shivram Karanth layout in 2008.

A bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna directed the Commissioner, Bangalore Development Authority to place on record the mode and manner of redressal of the grievances of such site-holders adopted in the previously formed layouts within a period of four weeks.

This has come as a major relief to hundreds of people who built dwellings after dropping of land from the acquisition process for the proposed layout.

The court was examining compliance of its judgement of August 3, 2018, which directed the Bangalore Development Authority not to drop the land acquisition from the proposed layout, posing serious repercussions to those who built the houses over there.

In the order passed on March 18, the bench said, "It appears that certain persons belonging to poor and middle-income groups have purchased house sites from the land owners whose lands have been notified for the acquisition for the formation of the layout in question, prior to the date of the judgment (2018)."

We are of the view that their grievances also require to be redressed. We are informed that similar grievances of the purchasers of the sites in other layouts formed by the Bangalore Development Authority have been redressed by the Bangalore Development Authority, the bench said.

The court directed the Commissioner, BDA to file a fresh status report in the matter by April 16.

Read | Bengaluru's ‘hidden’ sites elude not only MLAs, but the CM, too

After the judgement, the court was informed the Karnataka government issued a final notification on October 30, 2018, while the acquisition of land for the formation of the layout in question was in progress.

Earlier, in an order of December 3, 2020, the court said the buildings constructed in the layout with valid sanction or permission from the competent authority needs to be saved from demolition.

The court had also appointed a committee headed by Justice A V Chandrasekhar, former judge of the Karnataka High Court, as its Chairman, Jayakar Jerome, former Commissioner of the BDA and S T Ramesh, former Director General of Police, as its members, to identify the lawful constructions made in the notified land.