Wodeyar ready for settlement

Palace Grounds dispute with State Government
Wodeyar ready for settlement
Deccan herald

Mr Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, the scion of the erstwhile Mysore royal family, is looking for a settlement to the disputed Palace Grounds with the State government.

Mr Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, the scion of the erstwhile Mysore royal family, is looking for a settlement to the disputed Palace Grounds with the State government. In a first interview on the property under litigation in the Supreme Court, Mr Wodeyar told Deccan Herald that he is willing for a “in-the-court settlement for his portion of the property with the government, on mutually acceptable terms”.

Mr Wodeyar has 270 acres of land in the Palace Grounds. The rest, 140 acres has been divided equally among his five sisters and 45 acres of land, facing Jayamahal is with the Chamaraju Group.

The 472.16 acres of land has been under litigation ever since the State government enacted the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition & Transfer) Act 1996 to take over the Bangalore Palace Grounds. While the Act put the total area of Palace Grounds at 472.16 acres, the Wodeyars put it at 454 acres. Of this, a small portion has been acquired for the Mekhri Circle Flyover.


“I am willing to co-operate for a compromise formula but it has to be done legally, through a Cabinet decision. The government will have to enact legislation on this and the matter will have to be pursued in the court of law,” he said.

Mr Wodeyar said he was keen on solving the problem forever. “On my own I will not approach the government nor would I use political channels to resolve the long pending issue. But if the government approaches me, I am willing for a final settlement,” he said. The former Congress MP is not in favour of any out-of-court settlement because “it may get altered with the change in the government”, he said.

He refused to comment regarding his sisters and their families approaching the government for an “out-of-court” settlement. Mr Wodeyar had filed an interim application in the Supreme Court in April 2005 challenging the “arbitrary” demolition of a heritage structure on the premises of the Bangalore Palace. “The government has violated the court order by knocking down a structure inside the disputed property,” he said.

In his reply to a charge on felling the trees inside the Palace Grounds under his occupation, Mr Wodeyar said he has submitted in the same application that he has not cut a single tree. “On the contrary, the roots of the trees are being strengthened with sustained efforts,” he said.

Mr Wodeyar is planning to contest for the presidentship of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) next year. “I want to bring in accountability in the KSCA operations. We will have proper method of accounting. I would like to computerise tickets and even the passes for greater transparency,” he said.