Residents rejoice as HC extends stay on demolition of houses

More than 300 people had gathered to witness the hearing of the two-decade-old case. In 1986, the government acquired 29 acres and 27 guntas in the areas of what is now Yelachenahalli, Jaraganahalli and parts of Illyas Nagar.

The land was acquired in 1986 from Narayana Swamy Reddy and family to give possession to Bank Officer Housing Society for layout formation.

However, the possession could not be completed as the land owners challenged the acquisition in the High Court.  After losing the case, they sold the land to Gaana Builders who constructed an apartment and started selling flats. The land owners also sold it to other people and the government issued khatas and approved building plans and started collecting property tax.

Meanwhile, the Housing Society also moved the court as the government had not handed over the property to them.

In 2009, a report was submitted to the High Court stating that only 1.26 acres out of the total area remained unoccupied.

Notices for evictions were being served as early as 2006 and they have been challenged and lost.  On March 23, 2011, the Society filed an application stating that they had been given liberty to revive their contempt petition as the government had not given any possession.

While the court ordered notice to the government to explain their position, three days ago a notice was served on 741 houses with 3,550 inhabitants in the area stating they had to vacate within 48 hours and the houses would be demolished. The inhabitants were also warned that they would be forcibly evicted if they did not comply.

Justice B V Nagarathna extended the stay after the Additional Advocate General submitted that they would not precipitate the matter.

Demolition of temples

The High Court on Friday gave BBMP a week’s time to demolish two temples on government land.

The petitioner Vijayalakshmi had challenged construction of the two temples by Chennigaiah behind Ambedkar Maidan at Agara Dasarahalli on Dr Rajkumar Road in 2008.
Though the court in its earlier order had directed the Palike to demolish the temple in a week’s time, the Palike had not demolished it.

On Friday, the BBMP argued that it was a religious place and demolition could pose a problem. However, the Bench observed that the Supreme Court had ordered the demolition of unauthorised religious structures and warned the Palike against violating the fiat.

The court refused to consider Chennigaiah’s plea for more time to find an alternative place for the idols.

BDA to identify sites in Arkavathy Layout

The BDA has initiated the process to identify sites that have already been allotted to about 8,000 people in Arkavathy Layout.

The BDA attributed the delay in the process of allocating sites to the long drawn legal battle in the Supreme Court. A release issued by the BDA states that it has started “cleaning the sites and also repairing the drains and culverts to restore the sites to their original numbers.”

Meanwhile, the serving of notices on farmers to  notify their land will begin from April 11.