Palace Grounds: State moves SC

Palace Grounds: State moves SC
Deccan Herald

In a move to “clear” the Bangalore Palace Grounds of all “unauthorised structures”, and to ban any event from taking place in the 464.15 acres of prime property, the State government has filed an application before the Supreme Court.

In a move to “clear” the Bangalore Palace Grounds of all “unauthorised structures”, and to ban any event from taking place in the 464.15 acres of prime property, the State government has filed an application before the Supreme Court.

The interlocutory application filed early this month, is to seek vacation of the stay orders filed by the scion of the royal family of Srikantadatta Narasimha- raja Wadiyar and his sisters on the prime disputed property. The case is likely to come up for hearing on December 4.

In the application the Government has stated that in July this year, the then Chief Secretary to the State Government after an inspection noticed that Mr Wadiyar and his family members had “constructed a number of unauthorised structures, both permanent and semi-permanent in nature, apart from running hotel business and motor repair works, etc.”


The application further states that in the guise of using the portion of the Bangalore Palace for temporary purpose, the structures have “proliferated and become permanent” causing “grave injury to the Palace property and its environment.”

The Government has alleged that “in spite of the orders filed by the court, members of the erstwhile royal family have not strictly complied with the interim orders passed by the court... and have put up permanent/semi-permanent structures.”

Mr Wadiyar’s sisters in the recent past had approached the State to settle the property dispute “amicably and in the public interest,” said a family source.

In 1998, Mr Wadiyar had filed an application to conduct events on the Palace Ground and the eldest sister late Ms Gayathri Devi’s son, Mr C Kantharaj Urs, had filed another application on the issue before the apex court. Both were sanctioned approval by the court. The Royal family had moved the court after they had got the stay order on Bangalore Acquisition and Transfer Act 1997 moved by the state government.

In its application, the State while pleading before the court to vacate the interim orders dated September 14, 1998 and January 25, 2001, has observed that letting out of the premises has to be with the “permission of the Government and for the purposes, which are not inconsistent with the object of the Act; that the open space has to be preserved as such and that no trees are cut or any damage caused to the landscape or environment.”

Family sources of Mr Wadiyar’s sisters told Deccan Herald that they have been strictly following the directions issued by the court. “We always take permission from the department of personnel and administrative reforms for all the events held on our portion of the property,” said the source.

He added that there are no “permanent structures on the property. These are temporary and can be removed within a day or two’s time. Meanwhile, the royal family has decided to oppose the state’s application. “If the stay is vacated, our life-line will be cut. We largely depend on the income that we get from the events held on the Palace Ground,” added the source.