BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court quashed the notification issued for the acquisition of one acre for the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project at Thalaghattapura in Bengaluru South taluk, as no award has been passed for more than 17 years after the final notification issued by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB).
“The preliminary notification is of the year 2006, the final notification is of the year 2008, and no award has been passed for more than 17 years after the final notification. The respondents have not offered any acceptable explanation.
The KIADB cannot indefinitely keep the petitioner’s property under acquisition without concluding proceedings, and such extraordinary dormancy defeats the statute and vitiates the acquisition,” Justice KS Hemalekha observed.
The court made these observations while allowing the petition filed by Rathna S Reddy, a resident of Yelachenahalli in the city, questioning the acquisition of her land bearing Sy. No. 41/5, measuring 1 acre, situated at Thalaghattapura in Uttarahalli Hobli of Bengaluru South Taluk, under the provisions of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act, 1965.
The preliminary notification was issued in 2006, and the final notification in 2008. It was stated in the petition that although nearly 17 years have lapsed since the issuance of the final notification, no award has been passed by the acquiring authority, nor has any possession been taken in accordance with law and therefore, the petitioner moved the high court.
She has also relied on the endorsement dated June 5, 2025, issued by the office of the BMICP, which categorically states that no ramp, interchange, link alignment, or BMICP facility exists or is proposed upon the land in question and, consequently, that the land is not required for BMICP.
It is further averred in her petition that an affidavit filed by the Government of Karnataka before the Apex Court in Contempt Petition, shows that 554 acres of excess land had already been handed over to the concessionaire, and that no further land would be delivered.