On Wednesday the high court took the state government to task for allotting 123 acres of the land to BDA. The allotment of the land was challenged in the court by Health Foundation and four others.
Chief justice JS Khehar, while hearing a case on Wednesday, said, “Monarchy is better than the present government.”
The observation was made as the court was hearing a case related to the transfer of land belonging to the Beggars' Rehabilitation Centre to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
The Beggars' Rehabilitation Colony was, incidentally, set up on 308 acres and three guntas of land allotted for the purpose by Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, then Maharaja of Mysore, in 1944, on Magadi Road, which was considered then considered to lie on the outskirts of the city.
On Wednesday the high court took the state government to task for allotting 123 acres of the land to BDA. The allotment of the land was challenged in the court by Health Foundation and four others.
The petitioners contended that the allotment was made for purely commercial purposes, and thus the government should be restrained from making such an allotment.
Of the 308 acres, a large tract had already been allotted to a rehabilitation centre for leprosy patients, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the National Unani and Medical Association, BDA, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited and the social welfare department between 1977 and 2010, the petitioners pointed out, claiming that nearly 87.66% of land had already been alienated. Only 12.34% of the land now remains with the Beggars Rehabilitation Centre, and even this is now under threat, the petitioners held.
The division bench has issued notices to the state government in this connection. The Rashtrotthan Sankalp had filed a PIL in the Karnataka high court challenging the state government's decison to transfer Beggars' Colony land to BDA. It may be recalled that BDA has now invited expression of interest to set up a convention centre, a star hotel, a commercial complex and leisure and entertainment facilities on the Beggars' Colony even as
the transfer of land is still sub judice. BDA plans to demolish the existing buildings and construct new structures to house the beggars.
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