The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Land acquisition: officials told to be present in court

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 19, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Land acquisition: officials told to be present in court

Staff Reporter

Court takes exception to failure of Government and housing board in producing records

BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday took exception to the failure of the State Government and the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) in producing records relating to acquisition of land in Bangalore and directed the Housing Secretary and the KHB Commissioner to be present on July 23.

The court passed the order after both the State Government and the KHB failed to produce records relating to the formulation of the “100 houses scheme.”

The petition was filed in 2004 challenging the acquisition of over 2 acres of land for the KHB in Meenankunte and Chikjala for the scheme.

The petitioners, H.D. Erappa, H.A. Nagaraja and Thammaiah, all of Meenankunte village in Jala hobli and 25 other residents of Chikajala, Bangalore North, had claimed that although their land were agricultural in nature, it had been acquired for the KHB for the housing scheme.

‘Proceedings flawed’

They said that the acquisition proceedings were flawed and illegal as no such scheme had either been sanctioned or approved by the State Government.

The petitioners had urged the court to quash all further proceedings pursuant to the final notification acquiring their land.

The Government said it could give approval only when there was a scheme.

It said that the scheme had got sanction and Bangalore was one of the urban areas where it was to be implemented.

The KHB contended that some of the petitioners were not the real owners of the land and, therefore, they could not challenge the acquisition.

When the land owners insisted that there was no such scheme and even if there was one the Government had not approved it, Justice N. Kumar asked the Government and the KHB to place the records pertaining to the scheme. When the records could not be placed, Justice Kumar took serious exception to the conduct of the officials in not making available records and directed the Secretary of the Department of Housing and the KHB Commissioner to be present on the next date of hearing.

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