The High Court of Karnataka on Friday asked petitioners, who challenged the law that allows Akrama-Sakrama scheme for regularisation of certain types of unauthorised structures and developments, to establish that the State government was not competent to enact the law.
A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice Ravi Malimath, issued the direction during the hearing of a batch of PIL petitions, which questioned the constitutional validity of the amendments made to the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act for regularisation and the Karnataka Town and Country Planning (Regularisation of Unauthorised Development or Constructions) Rules, 2014.
Earlier, the State Advocate-General reiterated that the scheme would be a one-time measure and only certain proportions of unauthorised developments and constructions would be regularised.
When the Counsel for the petitioners explained about the proportion regularisation allowed under the scheme, Chief Justice Mukherjee said he noticed houses built on 30ftx40ft sites with no gap in-between on two sites in Bangalore city. Further hearing was adjourned to March 21.
The scheme was introduced in February 2015 and the High Court in its interim order passed on March 19, 2015, had restrained the State from processing applications received for regularisation from property owners.
Published - March 12, 2016 12:00 am IST
