The seemingly-never-ending saga of the widening of Jayamahal Road and Sankey Road, which include the acquisition of properties owned by members of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family, has reached another bureaucratic tangle: State cabinet approval.
After more than two years of attempting to acquire 65,000 sq.m. of Palace Ground land through Transferable Development Rights (TDR), the civic body has decided that a cabinet approval is needed to go ahead with the plan. The issue stems from refusal of the Wodeyar family, who have challenged the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act (1996) in the Supreme court, to give an indemnity bond in case the verdict is in the government’s favour.
Nearly 15.98 acres of Palace Ground is needed to widen the 2.5 km stretch of Jayamahal Road between Mehkri Circle and the Cantonment underpass, and a 2-km stretch of Ballari Road between Mehkri Circle and BDA junction. Both roads are key to access the new airport.
The issue had been in limbo since 2009 when the acquisition process began. The issue of widening then went to the High Court and the Supreme Court, and legal hurdles over TDR were cleared in 2014.
In April 2017, BBMP started the process of acquisition of the land under the new TDR rules. Objections to issuing TDR were called for, while members of the erstwhile royal family submitted documents.
Two years later, the BBMP noticed a big hurdle: TDR rules state that the land to be acquired must be free from litigation. However, Palace Ground is subject to a Supreme Court case (6564/1997) where the erstwhile royal family has challenged the Bangalore Palace Act, which allows the entire palace property to be transferred to the State government for ₹32 crore.
“We followed the Supreme Court order, which allowed for acquisition and the TDR rules. But, we wanted an indemnity bond from the family to acquire the properties. This is a huge acquisition, and there needs to be legal backing in case the verdict is in favour of the government. When the family refused, we had to keep the cabinet in the loop. We are awaiting a reply from them on what should be done next,” said Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner, BBMP.
The TDR certificate is worth twice the value of the land to be acquired and can be sold to builders or developers. The cabinet could either direct the payment of the TDR or suggest a legal route.
‘BBMP is delaying’
An advocate in the legal team of the Wodeyar family said a cabinet decision is unnecessary when there was a Supreme Court decision and a government order in this regard.
“Documents have been submitted and the family is willing to part with the land in exchange for TDR certificates. There is no need for an indemnity bond. It has no legal backing in land acquisition. But, the BBMP is delaying issuing this certificate and has been giving different excuses for the same,” he said.
