Karnataka govt in a fix over 'illegal' land lease order

Bengaluru: Eight years after issuing an order to lease out 78 acres of forest land in west Bengaluru to caste-associated organisations and five government utilities, the state government is doing everything possible to avoid the embarrassment of withdrawing the order, which violates Supreme Court verdicts related to status of forest lands.

While the grantees had proposed to convert the land into a build-up area, many others see the green patch as a vital lung space for the city. In the lucrative realty market, this land is estimated to fetch more than Rs 2,500 crore.

In December 2017, the then Congress government had decided to give land in survey number 81 in Machohalli to various organisations on a 30-year lease at a throw away price of Rs 1 lakh per acre per year. The order came when the upcoming election had heated up the political firmament.

However, the government order was challenged before the high court in January 2018, where petitioners noted that the land was declared as forest in 1896 by the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore and recognised as a reserved forest.

As a result of the legal development, no organisation could take possession of the land, which is situated about 1 km from the Nice Road Junction and is lucrative in the fast growing realty market. 

The high court, during a hearing in the matter in September 2019, noted the state government (the BJP was in power by then) had admitted in a written affidavit that the land in survey number 81 in Machohalli village “remains as a forest” and another “46 acres and 31 gunta” have been encroached. The court questioned the government’s silence on the December 2017 order granting lease. Ever since, the state has maintained a measured silence on the matter despite repeated prompts by the high
court.

The matter has been taken up at least twice by the Cabinet but deferred each time, including once last month. The government seeks to avoid the embarrassment of withdrawing the order, which was seen as an appeasement offer to various
communities.

To a question, Forest Minister Eshwar B Khandre said he has placed all the relevant materials before the Cabinet. “The department has made its stand clear that the area is a forest. All documents have been placed before the Cabinet. I can’t comment further,” he
said.

Karnataka State Backward Caste Federation, Kuruba Association, Sri Kaginele Maha Samsthana Kanakaguru Peetha of Haveri, Veerashaiva Mahasabha, Vokkaliga, Arya Ediga Association, Uppara, Dalit associations were among those who were granted 2.5 acres each or above. The other organisations, also caste associated, were granted anywhere between 1 to 2 acres each. While 58.5 acres were sanctioned to such organisations, 19.5 acres were allotted for public purposes.

Interestingly, more than a year before the government issued the lease order, the additional chief secretary of the Forest Department had written to his revenue department counterpart. This letter, written in October 2016, pointed out that the special deputy commissioner, Bengaluru had in 2009 rejected a claim of a charitable trust that 97 acres of Machohalli plantation, including the 78 acres coming under the 2017 lease order, had been released for constructing an orphanage. “The plantation has been declared a revenue land. However, it should be noted that it was never denotified and even now enjoys the status of forest,” the letter said.

A retired forest officer described the area as the lung space of west Bengaluru. “The lease order is illegal for two reasons. First, the forest was never denotified. Secondly, it violates the Supreme Court orders in the Godavarman case as well as recent orders. The government should think twice before taking legal routes to denotify this land. There is no other green zone in the area where even the smallest pieces of farm lands are turning into paved layouts. The government will compromise the long-term sustainability of the city by giving this lung space,” he said.

Interestingly, the 36 organisations who were granted the lease, sought to build cultural and educational institutions and hostels for children. The government organisations that received the lease had proposed a college, temple and other facilities, essentially turning the entire green patch into a build-up area.

A realtor who has developed a layout further ahead on the road said that while farm lands situated about 10 km away are sold at Rs 5 to 15 crore per acre, the Machohalli forest would become a prime property as it abuts the Magadi Road. “One quotes anywhere between Rs 8,000 to Rs 13,000 per square feet for residential sites in the areas,” he said. The conservative value puts the cost of the land at well over Rs 2,500 crore.