Karnataka forest dept stares at losing Rs 30 crore land

Bengaluru: The forest department is staring at the possibility of losing 517 acres of reserved forest in south Kengeri, the best patch of greenery in Bengaluru, thanks to the delay in getting access to a judgment of the Karnataka High Court.

The commercial value of the land is estimated between Rs 27,000 crore and Rs 35,000 crore.

On August 13, 2025, one M B Nemana Gowda filed a writ petition in the high court claiming that he was grantee of 532 acres in survey numbers 4, 48, 90, 91 and 92 of BM Kaval land in Kengeri Hobli.

After 17 days, on August 30, the court ordered revenue authorities to enter Gowda’s name in the revenue records within 90 days (by November 29). 

Forest officials said they were unaware of these developments till Wednesday. With Friday being the last day to file an appeal before the high court, the officials are now scrambling to get legal opinion on the matter.

Documents accessed by DH shows that K P Yoganna, additional advocate general, recommended filing of an appeal in a letter dated November 27.

The letter states that the government advocate could not verify the “contents” of Gowda’s petition and that he later came to know about the land’s status as a reserved forest. Notably, Yoganna had withdrawn his earlier recommendation that it was not a fit case for appeal.

Out of the 532 acres, except for the 15 acres in survey number 48, the remaining 517 acres of reserved forest land are part of the 1,382 acre 18 gunta of Badamanavarte Kaval (BM Kaval) State Forest notified on December 14, 1935. With the surrounding land gaining high realty value, the forest department has been hard pressed to conserve it.

Gowda’s writ petition, filed through advocate Ramesha
H E, stated that the Special Deputy Commissioner for Inam Abolition, Hassan Division, had granted the land in Bengaluru as per the document dated December 20, 1973, and sought occupation rights under the Inam Abolition Act.

Genuineness doubted

Stating that he had approached the revenue authorities to get the land documents in his name, the petitioner questioned an order of the Benglauru deputy commissioner who doubted the genuineness of the land grant and other papers. 

Gowda claimed that he deposited Rs 10,640 “premium revenue amount” to Hassan Division and produced a receipt. Further, he alleged that the forest department encroached on the 532 acre 15 gunta land and asked him to pay Rs 4.25 lakh towards “teak wood, saguvani and other varieties of forest plants” they had planted in the area.

Stating that his name had been included in land records (RTCs) in the period between 1974 and 1981, Gowda claimed that after the “encroachment” by the forest department, his name was dropped though the “deputy conservator of forest, Hassan” had issued a no-objection certificate in April 1984 and the special deputy commissioner had also recognised his rights.

Curious saga of the case

As per the high court website, the Writ Petition 25067 OF 2025 was filed on August 13. Under the daily orders, on August 23, the Registrar (Infrastructure and Maintenance) states “Comply during the course of the day”. It was listed on August 30 as serial number 43 and it was disposed of on the same day. However, the website showed that the same petition’s next hearing was listed for September 1.

The order directs the tahsildar, Bangalore South taluk, to verify whether Gowda’s name was recorded in revenue records and check his occupancy rights.

“The tahsildar shall act accordingly and pass necessary orders to enter the name of the petitioner in the revenue records, as expeditiously as possible and at any rate within a period of three months from the date of the receipt of the copy of this order,” says the order uploaded on the HC website. The order then goes on to state that “the learned Additional Government Advocate is permitted to file a memo of appearance within a period of four weeks from today”.

In the forest department, officials were unaware of the order till Wednesday night.

“There are cases where we get notice from the high court two weeks after a petition is filed. Here, the judgment itself was delivered in 17 days. We didn’t get the order till Wednesday. Perusal of the petition indicates that some of the documents are forged,” an official said.

A senior forest officer said they got wind of the development when someone started asking for legal opinion to purchase one of the parcels claimed by Gowda. “When asked on what basis they were trying to purchase the land, somebody pointed to the high court order. We will file an appeal on Friday,” he said.