Govt to promulgate Ordinance to drop TDR proposal to acquire Palace Grounds land

Karnataka government drops TDR proposal for Bengaluru Palace Grounds widening project, reserves right to acquire land in future.

In the light of a contempt case in the Supreme Court that has asked the Karnataka government to issue TDR to the erstwhile Mysore royal family, the State Cabinet — in a contrary move — on Friday decided to promulgate an Ordinance to drop the TDR proposal made earlier to acquire 15 acres and 17 guntas of the Bengaluru Palace Grounds. This was for the widening of the traffic-choked Ballari Road and Jayamahala Road.

Besides, through the Ordinance, the government will reserve the right to acquire or not acquire the land for road widening, posing a question mark on the widening project in the near future.

The decision follows the Supreme Court’s direction to the State government to provide TDR for about 62,475.27 square metres of land, which totals to ₹3,011.66 crores. The government has already decided to drop the acquisition process, though it decided to give TDR to about 1217.41 square metres of land that has been used for the construction of the Jayamahal underpass. The Supreme Court fixed the value of TDR for Ballari Road at ₹2,83,500 per square metre on Ballari Road and ₹ 2,04,000 lakh on Jayamahal Road as per the prevailing guidelines value.

The State government is fighting a legal battle with the members of the erstwhile royal family in the Supreme Court as the latter has questioned the Mysore Palace Acquisition and Transfer Act, 1996.

“This is not a small amount. This will impact the development of the State. We cannot pay ₹200 crore per acre for two kilometres of road. The State government reserves the right to decide whether land needs to be acquired or not and whether it should be used or not. The decision to promulgate the ordinance does not clash with the Supreme Court order. It has been made in the best interest of Karnataka,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil said, defending the decision during the post-cabinet briefing.

Asked about the urgency shown in taking such a decision, he said, “The urgency is because of the matter being in the Supreme Court. The court has not given any stay in the matter so far during the pendency of the case for nearly 28 years. If we accept this (TDR value), development in the State will be in jeopardy.”

When the Minister’s opinion was sought on whether the State government could take such a decision after the Supreme Court order, Mr. Patil said, “We are empowered to make the decision (of promulgating the Ordinance) as per the Constitution. I will not comment further on it. The Ordinance is supplementary to the Act in question. In fact, it will strengthen the Act.” On the fate of the road widening work on the two main roads that remain congested during peak hours, he said, “That is not dropped. We will discuss it later.”