Arkavathy: BDA notifications quashed again

Arkavathy: BDA notifications quashed again

The Hindu

Bangalore: The jinx on the prestigious Arkavathy Layout in Bangalore continued with the Karnataka High Court yet again quashing the notifications by the BDA in respect of those lands in which discrimination was alleged during the acquisition proceedings.

On August 23, the court had passed orders directing the Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) of the BDA to redo the proceedings relating to the acquisition of the land for the layout after holding spot inspections. The court had also quashed the impugned orders by the BDA and directed both the BDA and the parties to maintain status quo.

After the August 23 order, several other landowners moved the court challenging the order of the Commissioner, BDA. The landowners said they had approached the BDA as per the earlier order of a Division Bench comprising the then Chief Justice N.K. Sodhi and Justice N. Kumar.

They said the Bench, while giving the go-ahead to the layout in November 2005, had said that if the land fell under the green belt area or if it was totally built-up or belonged to charitable trusts, educational and religious institutions, nursery land, factories or land (similar to lands) which had not been notified prior to the preliminary notification, applications may be filed before the BDA seeking exclusion from acquisition.

Based on this directive, the landowners said that they had filed applications before the BDA. The petitioners contended that the BDA Commissioner had, however, issued an endorsement stating that their (petitioners) land did not fall under the above mentioned category and the same could be acquired.Quashing the June 2006 endorsements by the BDA, Justice Mohan Shantangouder ordered both the BDA and the landowners to maintain status quo.