Former landlord wants his 6.26 acres back

Former landlord wants his 6.26 acres back

Staff Reporter

R. Hanumaiah once owned 297 acres in Jakkasandra

BANGALORE: He is one among the handful of people who had to give up their lands in Jakkasandra when the then City Improvement Trust Board (CITB) sought to acquire their lands for the formation of the Koramangala layout.

He lost even more land when it was acquired for the St. John’s Hospital.

Today, R. Hanumaiah, who once owned 297 acres in Jakkasandra, is without a site in Bangalore.

His only hope is the Karnataka High Court. Twice a victim of land acquisition, Hanumaiah has been battling the CITB and later, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) in the High Court and Supreme Court for decades.

All he wants now is a little more than six acres of land which he says has been wilfully and illegally granted by the BDA to a high-profile housing society.

In his petition, Mr. Hanumaiah said 180 acres of his land was acquired by the CITB in 1959 for the formation of Koramangala. Later, 102 acres were acquired for the St. John’s Hospital. He said he had requested the City Improvement Trust Board to reconvey 6.26 acres to him. Some of his ancestors had been buried in the land and there was an Ashwatha Katte in on site.