B Y Vishesh v. the State of Karnataka
Land Acquisition – Change of alignment of pipeline – Tarikere & Kadur Tank Filling Project
Case brief
What is this about?
Karnataka High Court (S Sunil Dutt Yadav J, 17.04.2026) dismisses writ petition under Articles 226/227 by land owners of Survey No.309/1, Doranalu Village, Tarikere, challenging the LAO Tarikere's order dated 09.07.2025 (No.LAQ.CR/34/2021-22) refusing change of pipeline alignment under the Tarikere & Kadur Tank Filling Project (Upper Bhadra Project); Section 11(1) RFCTLARR Act 2013 notification dated 03.12.2022; Award passed and compensation deposited; DPR alignment frozen post-approval; limited judicial review over technical matters (relying on Project Director, Project Implementation Unit v. P.V. Krishnamoorthy, (2021) 3 SCC 572); no mala fides alleged; private engineer's Cost Benefit Analysis Report not preferred over department engineers; 98% work completed; alleged Rs.6 crore cost of realignment disputed; petition rejected and interim order discharged.
What did the court decide?
Once the approved Detail Project Report (DPR) is accepted, the alignment freezes; change in alignment cannot be accepted as a matter of course at the request of property owners, whose individual interest cannot always be accommodated by change in alignment.