HC rejects BCC plea to stay Byrasandra Tank auction

HC rejects BCC plea to stay land auction

The Times of India

Bangalore: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday refused to stay a BCC plea for a stay on the auction of 15 acres and 11 guntas of land, which is part of the Byrasandra tank bed, scheduled for Friday.

The BCC in a writ petition told the court that the Byrasandra tank is a property of the BCC and that some persons had illegally mortgaged the land with forged documents to the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB).

When the IOB’s debt of nearly Rs 7 crore was not cleared by the ‘land owners’ the bank had approached the debt recovery tribunal who authorised the ban to auction the mortgaged property for the recovery of the Rs 7 crore.

The bank has fixed the auction for 11 am on February 4 at the debt recovery tribunal’s office, the BCC said while seeking a stay on the auction. All tanks and playgrounds in the city are with the BCC and the N. Lakshman Rau Committee has recommended protection of tanks like the Byrasandra tank, the BCC said. A single judge of the HC refused a stay on the auction and adjourned the case.

Earlier this week, the residents welfare association of the RBI House Building Society in Jayanagar had through a public interest litigation challenged the auction before a division bench of the HC.

The court while issuing a notice before admission had made the observation that buyers of land at the auction would be buying the litigation regarding it as well.