PIL: Agency has no right if layouts handed to BBMP

Karnataka High Court

BENGALURU: A PIL challenging the amendment to the BDA Act to regularise illegal buildings in layouts, already handed over to the BBMP, has been filed in the Karnataka High Court.Hearing the petition, a division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum issued notice to the Chief Secretary, Commissioner of BDA, Secretary, Department of Urban and Municipal Development, and others.

In his petition, Dr K B Vijayakumar, advocate,  said that several layouts were handed over to BBMP after completion of their formation for maintenance and collection of appropriate taxes. Therefore, the BDA has no authority to regularise illegal buildings constructed without approval by a competent authority in such layouts, he claimed.

Appealing to the court to strike down the BDA Act, the petitioner stated that if a owner had a site in a BDA layout before 2007-2008 or before the transfer of such layout to BBMP and intends to construct a building on the site, then the owner will have to approach the BBMP for sanction or approval of building plans, and not the BDA though the site was allotted by the latter.

Similarly, if the BDA now regularises a piece of land or site, then the power to sanction or approve the building plan automatically moves to the BBMP. Hence, the BDA does not have authority to regularise either illegal or encroached sites.