NHAI agrees to return excess land

  The High Court on Tuesday disposed of a petition after the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), which had acquired excess land to widen National Highway-4 at Jalahalli village, agreed to give it back.

The petitioner, Tejpal Kothari, had moved the court asking why the NHAI had acquired over 900 sq metres of his property, but had utilised only half. He wanted the unused half denotified.

Meanwhile, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, which impleaded itself in the petition, sought the land from the court, saying it was urgently required for Bangalore’s Namma Metro project. This plea was not entertained by the court.

Justice Ananda Byra Reddy disposed of the matter after NHAI said they acquired the extra land by mistake. NHAI assured the court of denotifying the land and issuing a corrigendum to the petitioner.