BENGALURU: In a major setback to the Karnataka government, the Supreme Court on Friday has stayed the Akrama Sakrama scheme.
The interim order came exactly a month after the Karnataka High Court gave nod to the state government to regularise unauthorised building constructions and in effect protect lakhs of properties across the state through the scheme.
Hearing the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by city-based Namma Bengaluru Foundation, the SC bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar virtually stayed the scheme by asking the state not to process the applications.
On December 13, 2016, the Karnataka High Court had dismissed a batch of petitions filed against the state government’s Akrama-Sakrama scheme and asked the state to go ahead with it.
Anticipating the appeal by petitioners—the Citizen Action Forum and others —the state had filed a caveat before the apex court and also prayed the court to expedite the hearing. However, the apex court converted the SLP into a civil appeal, as constitutional issues were also challenged in it, which will be heard in due course.