ORDER :

By this public interest litigation, bulk allotment of a land to an extent of 33 acres 02 guntas situated at Doddakallasandra village, Uttarahalli Hobli, Bangalore South Taluk in Sy.Nos.15, 16 and 17 (the Schedule Land) made by the Bangalore Development Authority (for short ‘the BDA’) to the Bangalore Development Authority Employees’ Welfare Association (4th respondent) has been questioned on various grounds. The BDA has been established under Section 3 of the Bangalore Development Authority Act, 1976 (for short ‘the BDA Act’)

2. When this petition came up for hearing before the first Court on 16th January, 2019, it was noticed that the Advocate for the petitioner is no more. Therefore, Court notice was ordered to be issued to the petitioner. After service of Court notice, none appeared for the petitioner and, therefore, this Court by Order dated 3rd June 2019 appointed Shri. B.N. Harish, Advocate as amicus curiae to assist the Court.

3. On 17th November, 1998, a notification was issued by the Commissioner of the BDA for acquisition of 1111 acres of the land for formation of a layout known as Jayaprakash Narayan Nagar, 9th stage. The Schedule Land was included in the said notification. Thereafter, the lands comprising in various survey numbers including the Schedule Land which is the subject matter of this writ petition were acquired for formation of the said layout. According to the case of the petitioner, on 7th October, 2005, the department of Stamp and Registration had issued a notification revising the guideline market value of the immoveable properties in the jurisdiction of various sub-registrar offices in Bengaluru (urban) District. According to the case of the petitioner, the land value of the agricultural land situated at Doddakallasandra village was fixed at Rs.63,00,000/-per acre. On 9th November, 2006, a sale deed was executed on behalf of the BDA in favour of the 4th respondent in respect of three parcels of land comprised in Sy.Nos. 16, 17 and 18 of Doddakallasandra village, Uttarahalli Hobli, Bangalore South Taluk, totally admeasuring 33 acres 02 guntas (the Schedule Land) for consideration of Rs.88,31,587/-. The 4th respondent is a Welfare Association of employees of the BDA. According to the case of the petitioner, the Schedule Land was sold to the 4th respondent at a peanut price and there was huge loss to the State exchequer to the tune of rupees twenty crores.

4. It is contended in the petition that granting of such a valuable land at a lower price and that too to an association of the employees of the BDA is a gross illegality. It is pointed out that it is not clear from the sale deed when the 4th respondent applied for bulk allotment. Even a copy of the order passed by the Government dated 19th April 2006, as described in the sale deed was not provided to the petitioner. Various other illegalities such as the breach of the provisions of the Bangalore Development Authority (Bulk Allotment) Rules, 1995 (for short, ‘the Bulk Allotment Rules’) have been pointed out. It is contended that a part of the Schedule Land admeasuring 30 acres is a Gomal land which is exclusively reserved for grazing of animals. But the Schedule Land was allotted to the 4th respondent for residential use without following the procedure contemplated under Section 71 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964 (for short, ‘the KLR Act’) and the Karnataka Land Revenue Rules,1966 (for short, ‘KLR Rules).

5. A statement of objections has been filed by the BDA. Placing reliance on the communication dated 19th April 2006, (Annexure-R4), it is contended that the Government has accorded permission to the BDA to allot bulk land to the 4th respondent. The manner in which the cost of the land is calculated is pleaded in paragraph 4 of the statement of objections. It is contended that the Gomal land has ceased to be as such due to urbanization.

6. The learned counsel appearing as Amicus Curiae firstly submitted that the Schedule Land allotted to the