SC sets aside Karnataka High Court's order allowing NICE to construct group housing in Bengaluru

The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the Karnataka High Court's order of 2019 allowing Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) Ltd to construct a group housing in 42 acres 30 guntas of land in Bengaluru.

The court said the project proponents cannot go beyond the stipulations and specifications mentioned in the framework agreement and the project technical report without prior approval of the State.

A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said that prior approval of the State for deviation is the "quintessence".

Acting on a plea by the Karnataka government and the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Area Planning Authority, the court declared that it is not open to the project proponents to develop the land in any other manner, unless permitted by the State.

"The right in favour of project proponents to carry on development work on the lands referred to in the framework agreement of April 3, 1997 and in the project technical report of August, 1995 would enure only in conformity with the stipulations and specifications," it said.

The court, however, asked NICE, the project proponents of the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor Project on over 20,000 acres of land, to first approach the State for its prior permission to allow them to deviate from the stipulations and specifications.

"The competent authority of the State may take appropriate decision and if need be, obtain prior opinion of the empowered committee. However, this process must be completed in right earnest and no later than six months from the date of submission of the proposal," the bench said.

The NICE wanted to construct houses in different survey numbers at Kommagatta village, Kengeri Hobli, Bengaluru South Taluk (at interchanges 5/7 of peripheral road) covering 42 acres 30 guntas of land, outside the demarcated area for five townships in the framework agreement.

The project has a chequered history as this was the fifth round of litigation.

In the instant case, the project proponents submitted modified development plan on May 5, 2012 for permission to set up group housing scheme in 42 acres 30 guntas of land by excluding the lands in respect of which no sale deed was executed in their favour.

Subsequently, it had approached the HC, which had on October 15, 2019 set aside the February 7, 2015 decision by the planning authority to reject the project proponents' plea for permission to construct group housing scheme.

Senior advocate C A Sundaram, and advocate Shailesh Madiyal appeared for the planning authority, senior counsel Chandra Uday Singh, for the State and Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Mukul Rohatgi, for the project proponents in the top court.