Reversing a 2013 judgement of a single judge bench, the High Court of Karnataka has upheld Bangalore Development Authority’s action of allotting civic amenities sites on lease basis to GAIL (India) Ltd, Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL), and Syndicate Bank at Manyatha Nagar residential layout situated adjacent to Manyata Tech Park at Rachenahalli in the city.
A Division Bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice N.S. Sanjay Gowda passed the order while allowing appeals filed by the BDA and three companies questioning the correctness of March 6, 2013 verdict of the single-judge bench.
“The single judge has misdirected himself in considering the eligibility of the allottees to be allotted the civic amenity sites and the purpose of allotment in terms of the 1989 BDA Rules, which we have held do not apply to the allotments in the present cases,” the Division Bench observed.
The single judge had quashed the lease deed as well as the possession certificate granted to the companies while declaring that the allotments was violation of the BDA Act and the Rules governing allotment of CA sites.
Cost imposed
Meanwhile, the Division Bench also held that the Association and other individual petitioners had no locus standi to challenge the allotments as they were not affected by the allotments in any manner, and making allottees to suffer for a decade as they could not make use of sites despite paying crores of rupees to BDA. The Division Bench also directed the petitioners to pay ₹1 lakh each as cost.
The BDA during 2010-11 had allotted a site to GAIL Ltd for its office building and regional gas management centre (for lease amount ₹4.36 crore), to Syndicate Bank for constructing their corporate office, a branch and an ATM (for lease amount ₹2.71 crore), and to BCCL for constructing a 10-floor office (for lease amount of ₹2.63 crore).
The BDA had allotted these sites as developer of the layout, Manyata Promoters Pvt Ltd, had relinquished these sites in favour of BDA for civic amenity.
