BENGALURU: Expressing shock over construction of a residential building by encroaching government land in Kodigehalli, for which permission were granted by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the Karnataka High Court on Thursday directed the Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru Urban, to conduct an inquiry on whether the permission was as per law and whether proper verification was done before granting it.
It also directed the Deputy Commissioner to identify the officer responsible and submit a report to the court within four weeks. A division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagi passed the order while hearing a public interest litigation filed by one Ashwathanarayana Gowda in 2007 against the encroachment of government land at Kodigehalli village of Yelahanka in Bengaluru North taluk.
The court said it is surprising that the state government on one hand is before this court contending that said building encroached on government land. On the other hand, authorities like BBMP had issued a building licence and approved the building plan, following which the build came up on the site. This shows that there is non-coordination, the court added.
The BBMP has granted permission for the construction of the building and issued an occupancy certificate. This shows that the BBMP has not even bothered to ascertain the authenticity of documents and verification of government records, the court observed in the order.