Bangalore Palace Grounds acquisition: SC tells Karnataka govt to release TDR in favour of legal heir of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar and others

New Delhi: In a major setback to the Karnataka government, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed it to release Transferable Development Rights certificates of over Rs 3,400 crore in favour of the legal heir of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar and others for over 15 acres of land of Bangalore Palace Grounds acquired for the widening of Bellary and Jayamahal Roads.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Aravind Kumar pronounced the judgment in this regard, rejecting all the contentions raised by the Karnataka government.

A batch of contempt petitions were filed by the legal heir of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar and others, represented by advocate Nayana Tara B G and others.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty, among others, on behalf of the state government and its authorities had contended the court must decide the main appeal in the matter as the state has already succeeded before the High Court. 

They contended the acquisition was done in 1994 but the valuation is being done as per 2024. The counsel also said if the current TDR is allowed, the valuation of the entire acquisition of 462 acres would be over Rs one lakh crore for the State exchequer.

Senior advocates A K Ganguli, Rakesh Dwivedi, Madhavi Divan, and Gopal Sankaranarayanan had opposed the plea, saying as on December 10, 2024, the state authorities were found guilty of contempt. The court considered all their arguments and the possession of the land was taken in 2010.

The court had in February asked the state government to deposit the TDR within a week. 

On January 29, 2025, the Karnataka government notified the Bangalore Palace (Utilization and Regulation of Land) Ordinance 2025, reserving the right to not acquire portions of the disputed Palace land located in the heart of the Bengaluru city after the apex court's order of December 10, 2024 on the issuance of TDR.

The Karnataka government also filed a separate application urging the Supreme Court to take up the 1997 civil appeal challenging the constitutional validity of the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act, 1996.