Land lease expired; PWD wants Golf Club evicted

The Public Works Department (PWD) has sought eviction of the elite Bangalore Golf Club (BGC) from a 60-acre plot on which it is located along Sankey Road following the expiry of its lease agreement.

It is the PWD that owns the land, which was given on a 50-year lease to the BGC in 1971.

The agreement ended in 2021 after which PWD officials have had several exchanges of letters.

On December 16, 2022, PWD excutive engineer (No 1 Building Division) wrote to the superintending engineer (Building Circle) seeking directions to evict the BGC as per the Karnataka Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1974. DH has a copy of this letter.

Earlier, in October 2021, the BGC wrote to the PWD stating that the lease period would end on December 31 of that year and sought an extension. Officials were directed to provide their opinion on the BGC's request for lease extension. Specifically, they were asked to state a clear position on two matters: Inclusion of the PWD additional chief secretary/principal secretary/secretary in its governing body and the annual rent payable.

On having a government nominee on its board, the BGC secretary told PWD officials "orally" that a clause would have to be inserted during renewal of the lease.

The rent payable by BGC, according to the lease agreement, was Rs 100 per annum from 1971 to 1984, Rs 5,000 from 1985 to 1991 and Rs 10,000 from 1992 to 2021.

The PWD asked the BGC to pay 2% of its annual earnings since the 2013-14 financial year along with a 10% cess as rent. "It was informed that this would be discussed in the next monthly meeting and that they would write to us. So far, no letter has come to us about this," the executive engineer stated.

Meanwhile, even the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) flagged the fact that the BGC's lease had expired. The PWD chief engineer wrote to the government seeking eviction directions in July last year.

"The lease period ended in 2021. There's no action from the government. The club is functioning illegally," social activist Marilingegowda Mali Patil, who filed a complaint with the PAC alleging several violations by the BGC, said.

BGC managing committee captain A C Suresh Chandra and honorary secretary D N Vasanth Kumar did not respond to calls or messages.

Established in June 1876, the BGC is touted as the oldest golf course outside the British Isles. It counts the city’s who’s who as its members.