The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Mixed luck for State in Bidar Fort case

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Friday, May 30, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Mixed luck for State in Bidar Fort case

Staff Reporter

State lost the case relating to land in three survey numbers
However, the court upheld its plea that land in one survey number could not have been granted

BANGALORE: It was mixed luck for the State Government in the Karnataka High Court. Though it had fought tooth and nail for several months against the grant of land around the Bidar Fort, it lost the case relating to three survey numbers.

Its only consolation was that the court upheld its plea that land in one survey number could not have been granted and that the land belonged to the State.

Justice Rammohan Reddy passed the order on petitions by the State Government questioning the grant of a part of the land around the fort by the Bidar Land Tribunal to some beneficiaries.

Both the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which is in charge of the maintenance and upkeep of the fort, and the State had appealed against the order of the tribunal.

Appearing for the ASI, senior counsel Devhdass said that the fort was a protected monument and that nobody or no agency could tamper with it or grant it. He said that the land could not have been granted under any circumstances.

Justice Reddy had rejected the ASI appeal some time ago, stating that it was not maintainable.

In his judgment dictated in the court on Thursday on the State appeal, the judge allowed the State appeal for only one survey number (Survey No 36), while rejecting its claim for ownership of land in three other survey numbers.

The State had maintained that even though the Assistant Commissioner who was part of the tribunal had objected , the other members had gone ahead with the grant.

While the ASI had urged the court to quash the grant stating that the fort was a heritage structure and that it must be protected, the State too sought quashing of the tribunal order.

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