Karnataka govt to pay royal family Rs 3,000 crore as TDR for palace land in 6 weeks

Bengaluru: In six weeks, the state government will pay a whopping Rs 3,000 crore to the legal heirs of Maharaja of Mysore in the form of Transferrable Development Right (TDR) certificates for acquiring 15 acres and 39 guntas of land, adjoining Jayamahal Road and Ballari Road.

The fresh development — which is contrary to the government's recent stand — follows a Supreme Court judgement on Tuesday.

As per the judgement, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is required to fix the guidance value of Rs 2,83,500 per sqm for the Bangalore Palace land, adjoining Ballari Road, and Rs 2,04,000 per sqm for Jayamahal Road. This roughly comes to a TDR compensation of close to Rs 3,000 crore or Rs 194 crore per acre.
It also means that the area will be flush with high-rise buildings as builders can load the TDR certificates, worth Rs 3,000 crore, to construct an additional built-up area of about 3 lakh sqm.

Real estate lobby?

In April 2024, the state government had determined the value of palace land at Rs 120.68 per sqm as per the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act 1996.

The apex court, in its judgment, has taken into account the prevailing guidance value in the adjoining areas to fix the market value, which is roughly 2,00,000 times higher than the government's estimation.

What can, however, be noted is that the government had fixed the value for the Bangalore Palace land, but it did not have a legal backing as the Revenue Department did not notify the guidance value under Section 45 (B) of the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957. The inaction was seen despite the BBMP writing multiple letters to the Department of Stamps and Registration to notify the correct guidance value.

Activists have criticised Mamatha BR, the then commissioner of the stamps and registration department, as well as Rashmi Mahesh, principal secretary of the Revenue Department, for failing to discharge their duties in public interest.

“The government's gross negligence will lead to the loss of an entire palace property. This is clearly a massive scam involving the real estate mafia,” said Karnataka Rastra Samithi, a political outfit said, reacting to the judgment.

“The party had written a letter to the government in March to act on this issue, but the government’s willful negligence is causing an unbearable burden on the state exchequer and the plight of Bengaluru. The government must take immediate action against the ministers and officials concerned,” the party said.

"On two different occasions, the Supreme Court has ruled that no property can be acquired for public purposes merely by passing an ordinance and without providing market value. Despite this, the government was not ready to give TDR on par with the prevailing market value. We will be giving an undertaking that the money encashed will be returned if in case the larger bench upholds the Bangalore Palace Act 1996," said Chaduranga Kanthraj Urs, the petitioner.