Hope for Akrama Sakrama as key petitioner softens stand

Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), a not-for-profit, which had challenged the state government’s move to introduce Akrama Sakrama scheme in 2017, has toned down its stand on the controversial proposal. In a letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the foundation said it does not object to the government approaching the apex court to vacate the stay order.

“In recent days, many people have approached NBF with their problems of not being able to rationalise deviations of their homes as there was an SC stay on Akrama Sakrama. The stay has paused all regularisation of deviations in the plan of properties,” the NBF said in a press release.

The foundation, which is backed by Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, maintained the government should seek an exemption only for poor and middle-class families who are impacted by the stay. “In 2016, there was an attempt by the then Congress government to enact Akrama Sakrama legislation that would have had the effect of regularising illegal constructions and benefiting many connected builders,” it said.

The NBF’s PIL petition in the high court and a subsequent Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court had put brakes on the Congress-ruled government’s proposal to regularise illegal buildings.

The foundation’s change of stand could also be attributed to pressure from BJP leaders as the scheme is seen as a vote magnet. “We will support the government’s petition to the SC seeking exemption of Akrama Sakrama as long as it helps poor and middle-class homeowners,” Vinod Jacob, general manager of NBF, said. “The government should punitively consider penalising erring builders and officials with vested interests who aided these real estate builders,” he said.

Of late, the state government has been holding a series of meetings on introducing a scheme to regularise revenue sites as well as buildings with deviations. The government is also keen to implement the scheme ahead of the BBMP elections but there has been some sort of confusion due to the SC’s stay order.

A senior officer said the government was deliberating two options. “One is to vacate the stay order issued by the Supreme Court. If that does not work, there are enough possibilities to provide relief to ‘B’ khata property owners. A lot of meetings have already been held on these issues,” the officer said.