High Court orders GBA to issue TDR to Hoskerehalli landowners after 14-year delay
The Karnataka High Court has directed the Greater Bengaluru Authority to issue Transferable Development Rights (TDR) certificates within three months to landowners in Hoskerehalli village, Uttarahalli hobli, in Bengaluru South taluk, whose property was taken for road construction 14 years ago. Justice M Nagaprasanna issued the order, reprimanding the civic agency for failing to compensate the affected residents.
The case concerns nearly two acres of land in Hoskerehalli village that was notified for acquisition on January 6, 2012. The landowners executed relinquishment deeds on April 3, 2012, allowing the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), now known as the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), to use the land for road development.
Despite the acquisition notification promising TDR upon the execution of relinquishment deeds, the landowners received no compensation or certificates for over a decade.
Justice Nagaprasanna expressed strong displeasure over the delay, stating that a citizen had been stripped of his lands and left waiting for 14 long years without compensation or TDR.
The petitioners argued that they are entitled to TDR equivalent to 1.5 times the extent of the land they surrendered. They noted that the relinquishment deeds were binding because they were signed by the BBMP’s additional commissioner on behalf of the commissioner.
In its defense, the BBMP opposed the claim, arguing that the land was never formally acquired. The civic body alleged that certain officials had colluded with the landowners to create the TDR, claiming the relinquishment deeds were executed in error and should not be acted upon.
The High Court rejected the civic agency's defense, noting that the relinquishment deeds were registered documents signed by an authorized BBMP officer. Justice Nagaprasanna called the BBMP's defense "preposterous," pointing out that the civic body had never sought to cancel the deeds.
The judge also questioned the BBMP's allegations of fraud, noting that the agency had failed to explain what actions were taken against the senior officials involved. The court remarked that suspending an executive engineer without further action spoke volumes of the "eye-wash action" taken by the BBMP.
The court concluded that landowners could not be made to suffer for the alleged lapses of civic officials. It allowed the petition and ordered the GBA to issue the TDR certificates within the three-month deadline.
