Supreme Court agrees to consider Karnataka govt's review pleas on TDR

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a plea by the Karnataka government to review its 2022 order, which directed for issuing transferable development rights certificates of over Rs 3,400 Cr in favour of legal heir of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar and others for over 15 acres of land of Bangalore Palace ground acquired for widening of Bellary and Jayamahal Roads.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and N Kotiswar Singh decided to hold the open court hearing on August 18, 2025 on the review petitions settled by Additional Advocate General Nishanth Patil.

Notably, review petitions are considered by the judges inside the chamber through circulation of papers only. It is only in rare cases that the court agrees to examine the matter in open court.

In its order issued on July 24, 2025, the bench said, "In view of the administrative order dated 21.07.2025 passed by the Chief Justice of India, these review petitions have been listed today before us in chambers by circulation. Let these Review Petitions be listed in open court on 18.08.2025."

The matter has been ordered to be listed before a three-judge bench before whom the main civil appeal would also be posted.

It is to be noted on May 29, 2025, in a major relief to the Karnataka government, the Supreme Court had suspended the previous orders for handing over of transferable development rights certificates.

On January 29, 2025, the Karnataka government notified the Bangalore Palace (Utilization and Regulation of Land) Ordinance 2025, reserving the right to not acquire portions of the disputed Palace land located in the heart of the Bengaluru city, after the apex court's order of December 10, 2024 on issuance of TDR.

The Karnataka government also filed a separate application urging the Supreme Court to take up 1997 civil appeal challenging constitutional validity of the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act, 1996.