M/S Sapthagiri Shelters v. the State of Karnataka
Case brief
What is this about?
BBMP building plan levies; ground rent; licence fee; scrutiny fee; security deposit; lake rejuvenation fee; compound wall charges; betterment fee; labour cess; MRTS surcharge; Karnataka Act No.01 of 2022; Karnataka Act No.37 of 2024; Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act 1976; BBMP Act 2020 Sections 240-A, 229(2), 376; KTCP Act 1961 Sections 18, 18-A, 14, 17, 2(7), 81; Karnataka Planning Authority Rules 1965 Rules 37-A, 37-B, 37-C; Karnataka Stamp Act 1957 Section 45-B guidance value; Revised Master Plan 2015 Development Plan definition 20,000 sq.m.; quid pro quo; manifest arbitrariness; Articles 243W 243X 12th Schedule; Article 14; validation Act retrospective effect; Sunderam Shetty ILR 2021 KAR 3968; Circulars 04.09.2015 and 27.01.2017 quashed; demand notices quashed; One Time Settlement; Chief Commissioner vs Corporation rate-fixing power.
What did the court decide?
Writ petitions partly allowed: (ii) Karnataka Municipal Corporations and Certain Other Law (Amendment) Act, 2021 (Karnataka Act No.01 of 2022) quashed and set aside; (iii) Karnataka Municipal Corporations and Certain Other Law (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Karnataka Act No.37 of 2024) quashed and set aside; (iv) Section 18-A KTCP Act 1961 read with Rules 37-A and 37-C KPA Rules 1965 declared applicable only to Development Plans for plots measuring more than 20,000 sq.m.; (v) no fresh fee where fee already collected for change of land use/layout approval; (vi) linking of Rule 37-A fees to market/guidance value declared illegal, with liberty to re-fix after collecting empirical data; (vii) impugned Circulars implementing Rules 37-A/37-C quashed; (viii) Clause 3.8 of the Building Byelaws 2003 (Ground Rent) declared illegal and quashed; (ix) all impugned Demand Notices against the writ petitioners quashed, with advice that BBMP consider a One Time Settlement scheme. Pending interlocutory applications disposed of.