Lok Adalat succours BDA applicants

Tuesday, at long last, turned a day of deliverance for Mahalakshmi B and her two brothers. Their two-year monumental battle with the monolith Bangalore Development Authority to get a khata and sale deed transferred from the name of their deceased father – G Lingaya, to their mother and themselves, was over in a jiffy, thanks to the Second National Lok Adalat. 

Lingaya had built a home in JP Nagar VI Phase. As per the BDA policy, the sale deed was not given to the owner for 10 years. The sale deed had to be issued in the name of the legitimate heirs, and at the Lok Adalat, this was completed in two minutes. “We are happy we finally got justice,” Mahalakshmi said. 

Likewise, septuagenarian Hanumappa, who has been fighting a valiant battle since last three years, said: “My agricultural land was taken for the formation of Arkavathy Layout and I am entitled to get seven sites, but I got only one today.
What happened to the remaining six? My plot is divided among my six daughters and a son. The allotment was denotified and notified many times. Still there is no clarity. I am waiting for justice.”

For quick disposal of such cases, the BDA and the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority are holding a two-day Second National Lok Adalat on December 2-3, with the objective of disposing of 1,500 cases.

The BDA has received 1,529 applications. The adalat was inaugurated by Karnataka High Court Judge Justice N K Patil.

Briefing reporters on the sidelines, BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhat said: “Last time we disposed of 786 cases. This time, we want to solve 1,500 cases. At the next adalat, we aim to resolve 3,000 cases. Here, all types of disputes are resolved: flat allotment problems, sale deed, khata transfer, sanction plan, blueprint clearance, issue of allotment letter, land acquisition cases and possession certificate. All cases were sorted in the previous adalat.”

State Legal Services Commission Special Officer and District Judge Mustafa Hussain said compared to the last time, the crowd was more this time. Justice Ashok G Nijaganavar said this time the adalat and the BDA were more systematic in their working and cases were getting resolved faster.

The reason why adalats are being held is because people have many problems with the BDA and many times, the BDA alone is not at fault, it is also policy decisions. Thus, adalats are held for quick justice.

The first day of the Lok Adalat hearing saw 210 cases of the allotted 495 being disposed of. Of these, 154 pertained to site allotment; 39 to flat allotment letters, 18 to khata transfer letter and the remaining like sanction plan and so on, a BDA release said.