The High Court of Karnataka on Monday ordered issue of notice to the State government on a PIL petition, which has contended that the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) cannot regularise illegal constructions put up in layouts formed by BDA, after the layouts were transferred to the Bruhat Bangalore Manahagara Palike (BBMP).
A Division Bench passed the order on the petition filed by K.B. Vijayakumar, a city-based advocate.
“The action of regularising illegal possession of lands acquired by the BDA and illegally constructed structures amounts to encouraging illegal possession of government lands and penalising honest citizen who paid exorbitant prices for purchase a piece of land from the open market or from the through allotment by waiting for years,” the petitioner claimed.
Pointing out that people have been applying for years and years for allotment of a site in BDA formed layouts, the petitioner contended that allowing somebody illegally squatting on lands acquired by the BDA violates the basic right of equity before the law guaranteed under the Constitution.
“When the land itself is an illegal holding, trying to regularise the building on it is not acceptable especially when the power for sanctioning/approving building plans lies with the BBMP and not BDA,” the petitioner contended, while questioning the legality of amendment made to the BDA Act by inserting Section 38D to enable regularisation of unauthorised occupation and illegal constructions on lands acquired by the BDA in the city.
