Ordinance on palace land likely as Siddaramaiah government hopes to override SC judgement

Bengaluru: The Siddaramaiah government has scheduled a cabinet meeting on Friday, where it will discuss the Supreme Court’s order of granting Transferable Development Rights (TDR) to the erstwhile royal family of Mysore on par with market rates.

In all likelihood, the government will pass an ordinance to temporarily override the decision of the Supreme Court as the compensation rates fixed by the apex court imposes “a financial burden on the state” and the ownership of 472-acre Bengaluru palace land is yet to be settled.

What can be noted is that the government, which had earlier planned to hold the state cabinet meeting on January 30, decided to prepone it after the Supreme Court scheduled the hearing on Tuesday. 

Multiple sources told DH that the government will pass the ordinance so that it can seek early hearing of the civil appeal in the apex court where the ownership of the entire palace land is still under consideration. 

In the last cabinet meeting, the government had decided to drop the proposal to widen both Jayamahal Road and Ballari Road on the grounds that the compensation fixed by the two-bench of the Supreme Court would impose a financial burden on the state.

The government also noted that the Transferable Development Right (TDR) certificates, once issued, can be recovered if the top court rules in its favour in the civil appeal concerning the custody of the palace land.

The decision of dropping the proposal would have landed the government in trouble as the Basavaraj Bommai-led government had taken a similar stand in December 2022, stating it would not acquire the palace land but make changes in the existing design on Ballari Road to provide smooth movement of traffic.

The apex court, however, did approve the government’s plan as it was contrary to its earlier stand of acquiring about 15 acres and 17.5 guntas of palace land for acquiring both the Ballari Road as well as the Jayamahal Road. 

In its judgment, dated December 10, the apex court went on to consider the compensation of Rs 2.83 lakh per sqm for the land on Ballari Road and Rs 2.04 lakh per sqm for the land on Jayamahal Road. This amounts to a total TDR compensation of Rs 3,011 crore.

As the ownership of the entire 472-acre of land is yet to be settled in the Supreme Court, the Siddaramaiah-government was not keen on granting the TDR as it will not be able to recover it once used.

"The compensation fixed by the Supreme Court will have repercussions on the financial discipline of the state. It is also difficult to undertake infrastructure projects without considering the financial burden. Any project that is not feasible cannot be implemented, as it goes against the public interest," the signed proceedings dated January 16 stated.