BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday expressed displeasure over the ‘approach’ of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) with regard to the statement of objections filed to a PIL against the construction of a temple in Malleswaram.
The division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice SR Krishna Kumar questioned the counsel of BBMP.
“If somebody constructed a temple abutting a footpath of Vidhana Soudha, will your commissioner take action to demolish it? Or conduct a survey and then take action? Why is the commissioner reluctant to take action under Section 321 of Karnataka Municipality Act?”, the court asked.
The court asked the government advocate what action it would take against the commissioner. Treating the PIL petition filed by HNA Prasad, the court has given time to the BBMP commissioner to correct his approach and file the affidavit by October 17, 2019.
“No authority can say that it can tolerate illegal religious structures. Therefore, it is the duty of the corporation to take action against these structures,” the court said, while making it clear that the BBMP is obliged to take action against buildings if they are constructed illegally.
In the statement of objections filed by BBMP commissioner B H Anil Kumar, he admits that the temple encroached the road. However, he was reluctant to take action, saying that he wanted to ascertain the ownership of the land on which the temple is constructed and the matter will be placed before the council.