Govt holds important discussion with legal experts
How to avoid Rs 3,000 cr transfer development rights was deliberated upon
Bengaluru: A significant discussion was held with senior Supreme Court lawyers and legal experts on Thursday on how to proceed with the next legal battle in the Supreme Court to avoid the payment of Rs3,011 crore TDR compensation for 15.7 acres of land at Bangalore Palace ground for road widening. The court had ordered a TDR compensation of exactly Rs3,011 crore for the use of 15.7 acres of land at Bangalore Palace ground for the widening of Bellary Road and Jayamahal Road. The state government, which held an emergency cabinet meeting on January 23, had dropped the road widening proposal and issued an ordinance on the grounds that giving such a large amount of compensation would be a burden on the government.
During the hearing of the case in the Supreme Court last week, the state government informed the Supreme Court of the ordinance resolution and dropped the road widening proposal. Therefore, it had said that it would not provide TDR compensation of Rs3,011 crore. However, the Supreme Court, which did not grant this, has already ordered to provide TDR compensation of Rs3,011 crore. It has clarified that there is no discussion on this.
The Supreme Court has also warned that if the court order is not followed, your officials will be in trouble and has asked the BBMP and BDA commissioners to appear in person for the next hearing. In this context, the state government, which is in a dilemma, held a serious discussion on the possibilities of further legal battle in the cabinet meeting on Thursday. Giving information about this at a press conference, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said that it is not fair to provide compensation worth Rs3,011 crore for a two-km road area. Therefore, we have decided to drop the road widening proposal. But the Supreme Court has not responded to this. Therefore, we have discussed with Delhi lawyers and legal experts on how to proceed further.
Will you provide compensation of Rs3,000 crore? To the question, giving TDR of Rs3,000 crore is against the public interest and would be an injustice to the citizens. The 1997 Act, under which the state government has already acquired the entire Palace Grounds, is still in force. The Supreme Court has not even issued a stay order on this. In such a situation, is it possible to give compensation of Rs3,000 crore for our own land? Therefore, we will continue the fight, he said.
The state government had decided to use 15.7 acres of Bangalore Palace Grounds for road widening purposes. The royal family, which had approached the court for compensation for this land, had been given a TDR worth a total of Rs3,011 crore as compensation at the rate of Rs2.83 lakh per sq m on Bellary Road and Rs 2.04 lakh on Jayamahal Road. The state government had appealed against this, saying it would be a financial burden, but the High Court had rejected the state government’s appeal. In the hearing held on December 10, the Supreme Court had directed the state government to grant the TDR claim within six weeks.
Later, the royal family filed a contempt of court petition against the state government for not granting TDR compensation, and the court had issued notices to government officials. Thus, when the state government was faced with the dilemma of granting TDR or abandoning the road widening project, it finally held a cabinet meeting on January 23 and issued an ordinance, abandoning the road widening proposal.Now, 1,217 square meters of land cannot be returned for the construction of the Jayamahal Road underpass. Therefore, it was decided to pay TDR only for this area. During the hearing held in the Supreme Court last week, the Supreme Court did not uphold the ordinance. Instead, it clarified that there is no change in the order ordering the granting of TDR compensation. In this context, the government, caught in a dilemma, is looking for new legal options.
