Bengaluru: Forest officials from the Bengaluru Urban division successfully recovered a portion of the encroached land in Bhoothanahalli forest, Anekal. However, their efforts to “reclaim” an additional 3 acres and 17 guntas in the same area were unsuccessful in court.
On Thursday morning, officials from the Anekal range cleared encroachments on 4 acres and 13 guntas of land valued at over Rs 40 crore and began preparations to plant saplings of native trees. Originally, the department aimed to recover 7.3 acres of the encroached land, which is part of the 265 acres listed in Survey Number 67, belonging to the Bhoothanahalli Minor Forest in Anekal.
This action by the Forest Department followed a recent order from the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Special Court, Bengaluru, on April 24, which mandated the removal of the encroachment but rejected the department’s claim that the possession of the remaining land was an act of land grabbing.
Gurumurthy, the son of Pattalaiah, contended that he owned only 3 acres and 17 guntas and was unaware of who possessed the rest of the land. He stated that the 3 acres and 17 guntas had changed hands several times before his purchase. He claimed that the land was originally granted through legal procedures.
However, the public prosecutor argued that the land was a notified forest and could not be granted by revenue authorities.
“Even the Supreme court has held that the revenue authorities cannot grant forest land and if the grant has been made, the said orders are null and void,” the prosecutor stated.
The court rejected the prosecution’s request for punishment under the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, noting that the accused had purchased the land and provided evidence of the sale deed.
“There is no material to come to the conclusion that the accused is in possession of the said land with an intention to grab the same,” stated a bench consisting of Justice B A Patil and revenue member S Palaiah.
However, the court ruled that the range forest officer of Anekal should protect the 4 acres and 13 guntas of land by taking legal possession.
Senior officials in the Bengaluru Urban division indicated that they would have to initiate a new procedure to reclaim the 3 acres and 17 guntas.
“A notice will be issued, claims of the encroacher will be reviewed, and other procedures will be followed to recover this patch of land,” an official stated.