The Karnataka High Court on Monday directed the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to remove all billboards and signboards put up on the one-acre land, denotified during the tenure of the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, near Nandini Layout, and ensure that the land remains in BDA's possession.
A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice B.V. Nagarathna, passed the interim order during the hearing of the public interest litigation petition filed by Congress legislator N.L. Narendra Babu challenging the denotification of the land.
The Government had, on the last occasion, said that it is reconsidering the denotification, but it did not provide any progress made in this regard when the matter came up for hearing on Monday. On the other hand, the land BDA maintained that it had taken possession of the land before it was denotified.
The Urban Development Department had, on the direction of Mr. Yeddyurappa in January 2010, denotified the land for a “humanitarian reason” stating that a school building had come up there. However, it was pointed by the petitioner that the BDA itself had demolished unauthorised construction in 2006.
The High Court was told that the original land owners are no more and that the denotification was done in favour of Hanumanthappa.
The petition has been adjourned to March 23.
