Court affirmed that acquisition proceedings under the BDA Act remain valid despite contestation over land classification as forest land.

ORAL JUDGMENT

(PER: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE D K SINGH)

In Writ Appeal No.365/2024

This appeal has been filed by the appellant / petitioner (since deceased, represented by his legal heirs), impugning the judgment and order dated 20.12.2023, passed by the learned Single Judge in Writ Petition No.55091/2018.

2. The parties are referred to as per their ranking in the writ petition, for the sake of convenience.

3. The BDA had published a preliminary notification dated 07.11.2002 under Section 17 of the Bangalore Development Authority Act , 1976 (for short ‘the BDA Act’), proposing to acquire an extent of 1532 acres 17 guntas of land, including the land in the alleged ownership of the petitioners, measuring 10 acres 7 guntas in Survey Nos.70 and 71 of Turahalli Village, Uttarahalli Hobli, Bengaluru South Taluk. The purpose for acquiring the land was for the formation of further extension of Banashankari VI Stage. The State Government, however, had issued the final notification dated 09.09.2003 under Section 19 (1) of the BDA Act, acquiring an extent of 750 acres of land, which would include the lands in Survey Nos.70 and 71 as mentioned above.

4. The said final notification came to be challenged in a number of writ petitions before the learned Single Judge in Writ Petition No.44949/2003, and connected cases. The petitioner had also filed Writ Petition No.53576/2003.

5. The learned Single Judge vide judgment dated 06.06.2006 in Writ Petition No.44949/2003 and connected cases, upheld the final notification and rejected the challenge to the acquisitions in all the writ petitions. However, the acquisition was upheld subject to the following conditions:-

“The challenge to the acquisition in all these writ petitions falls and it is accordingly rejected. The acquisition proceedings are upheld, subject to the following conditions:

(A) The petitioners who are all the owners of sites in question (not duly converted for non-agricultural use in accordance with law) which are acquired are entitled to the following reliefs:

(i) These petitioners shall register themselves as applicants for allotment of sites under the Bangalore Development Authority (Allotment of Sites) Rules, 1984, within a period of two months from today (extendable by another one month by BDA, if sufficient cause is shown). Petitioners will have to pay only the registration fee. They need not pay initial deposit as their sites have been acquired and they are not entitled to receive compensation in regard to the sites under this arrangement.

(ii) The petitioners shall file applications for allotment of sites to BDA within three months from today, in the prescribed form stating that they are applicants who were the petitioners in these writ petitions. Petitioners shall file their documents with BDA along with the application to verify the same

(iii) BDA will treat them as applicants entitled to priority in allotment and allot each of them a site measuring 30' x 40' in "Further Extension of Banashankari 6th Phase" or in any other nearby layouts in Bangalore at the prevailing allotment prices subject to petitioners satisfying the twin requirements for allotment under the BDA (Allotment of Sites) Rules, 1984, that they must be the residents of Bangalore (ten years domicile) and should not be owning any residential property in Bangalore.

(iv) If there are no rival claimants for compensation in regard to the plots claimed by the petitioners, and if the ownership of the petitioners in regard in their respective sites which have been acquired is not disputed BDA shall calculate the compensation payable to the petitioners and give credit to the same by adjusting the same