Govt may reclaim posh apartment built on housing society land

Months after the State government took back industrial land allotted to Joy Ice Cream Ltd in KR Puram, two acres and two guntas allotted to the Vyalikaval House Building Co-operative Society in the posh locality of RMV II Stage in northern Bengaluru may face the same fate.

The society had entered into a joint development agreement with a real estate firm, Vaishnavi Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, for construction of an apartment complex in violation of its own rules. Not only that, it illegally sold premium flats, including penthouses, to politicians and their associates.

A senior member of the society, S Ramachandra, has written to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) asking it to take back the whole land. Citing the Joy Ice Cream case, he argued that the land was allotted to the society to develop and sell sites to its members only. He also said he had been paying site advance deposit since 1982, but was yet to get a site.

BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhatt confirmed having received the complaint. “We have received the letter from a senior member. We are examining the matter and will take a decision shortly,” he told Deccan Herald on Thursday.

The land in Survey No 54/2 (2.2 acres) was allotted to the society under the BDA’s Development Scheme in accordance with the BDA Act 1976, with a specific condition in the sale deed that the land was to be used for the sale of sites to the “poor and needy members” of the society. But the society entered into the joint development agreement in violation of section 38 (b) of the BDA Act and rule 7 (2) of the BDA Bulk Allotment Rules, which categorically specify that sites be allotted only to members. Not only that, the society violated the model bye-laws of the House Building Co-operative Societies and its own bye-laws.

While the society agreed to keep 33 per cent of flats at its disposal, it gave away the rest to the firm, which was free to mortgage, lease or sell them to anyone.

The first agreement was with L&C Constructions Pvt Ltd in February 2003, while the bye-law for the joint development agreement was amended in December 2003. The second agreement, with Vaishnavi Infrastructure in 2007, added a clause that the private builder would sell the flats to outsiders once the society admits them as members. Today, the whole apartment complex, at RMV II Stage, is known as Vaishnavi Splendour with no mention of the society’s name.

“The society claims the government had approved construction of apartments by an order in September 2007. The copy of the order, which the complainant has obtained under the RTI Act, clearly states that this too was with a condition that flats shall be allotted only to members. However, here again the government hasn’t taken an NoC from the BDA before approving construction of apartments. The erstwhile Bangalore Mahanagara Palike sanctioned the building plan without an NoC from the BDA,” a senior BDA official said.