Sri S Ramesh Reddy Vs the State of Karnataka — Writ and Judicial Review | Karnataka HC (2026)

Sri S Ramesh Reddy Vs the State of Karnataka — Writ and Judicial Review | Karnataka HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Writ petition disposed of with directions: petitioners entitled to cash compensation with interest from the date of the Final Notification till deposit, or, at their option, allotment of developed sites under the 60*40 scheme in lieu of cash compensation, with BDA obliged to consider such allotment applications.

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioners' lands included in the Final Notification dated 18.06.2014 could be deleted from the land acquisition proceedings. +2 more

Court's answer

The land acquisition proceedings stand upheld through several rounds of litigation up to the Supreme Court; the issue is concluded and will not be re-examined, and the petitioners' lands cannot be deleted from the acquisition.

Ratio / Principle

The findings of the High Court-appointed fact-finding Committee (K N Keshavanarayan Committee), giving the reasons why the lands cannot be deleted from the land acquisition proceedings, were accepted as fair.

Key takeaways

The petitioners are entitled either to cash compensation or to developed land under the 60*40 scheme; if they choose cash compensation, they must be adequately compensated by payment of interest from the date of the Final Notification till the amount is deposited.ratio¶70
If the petitioners make an application for allotment of sites under the 60*40 scheme, the BDA must consider the application and allot the sites in lieu of the cash compensation.ratio¶70

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Karnataka High Court (DB: D K Singh & T.M. Nadaf JJ.; order per D K Singh J.), W.P. No. 35017 of 2025 (LA-BDA), decided 02.04.2026: The petitioners impugned the report dated 23.09.2025 of the K N Keshavanarayan Committee (KNKC No.195/2022 (Challakere)) — constituted by the High Court in W.P.No.51929/2014 — which related to their representations in W.P.No.30494-97/2013 seeking deletion of lands included in the Final Notification dated 18.06.2014, and recommended rejection of the Challakere applicants' deletion requests and completion of acquisition. Holding that the acquisition stood 'upheld in the several round of litigation upto the Supreme Court' and the issue 'concluded', the court declined to re-examine it or delete the lands, accepting the Committee's findings as fair (the Committee having taken note of Bondu Ramaswamy v. BDA, (2010) 7 SCC 129). Granting relief instead, the court held the petitioners entitled to cash compensation with interest from the date of the Final Notification till deposit, or, at their option, allotment of developed sites under the 60*40 scheme in lieu, with BDA bound to consider such applications. The Committee's ancillary recommendations — execution of pending absolute sale deeds to allottees within three months with a compliance report, and consideration of applications under S.38-D Bangalore Development Authority Act for existing structures — were also recorded. Counsel's plea to quash the acquisition for non-deposit of the award amount and absence of notice to land owners was not acceded to. Writ petition disposed of.

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU

DATED THIS THE 2^ND DAY OF APRIL, 2026

PRESENT

THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE D K SINGH

AND

THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE T.M.NADAF WRIT PETITION NO. 35017 OF 2025 (LA-BDA)

BETWEEN:

SRI S RAMESH REDDY AGED ABOUT 60 YEARS, S/O. SRINIVASA REDDY, R/AT CHALLAKERE VILLAGE, RING ROAD, KALYANANAGRA POST, BENGALURU 560 043

(SENIOR CITIZEN BENEFIT NOT CLAIMED)

Digitally signed by VASANTHA KUMARY B K Location: HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA

SRI. S. NAGARAJ REDDY, AGED ABOUT 58 YEARS, S/O. SRINIVASA REDDY,

R/AT CHALLAKERE VILLAGE, RING ROAD, KALYANANAGRA POST, BENGALURU 560 043

(BY SRI. A. ABHINAV RAMANAND., ADVOCATE)

&PETITIONERS

AND:

THE STATE OF KARNATAKA DEPARTMENT OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT, M.S.BUILDING, DR. AMBEDKAR VEEDHI, BENGALURU 560 001. REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY.

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THE BENGALURU DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY T.CHOWDAIAH ROAD, KUMARA PARK WEST, BENGALURU 560 020. REPRESENTED BY ITS COMMISSIONER.

THE LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER BENGALURU DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, T. CHOWDAIAH ROAD, BENGALURU 560 020.

R4 DELETED VIDE ORDER OF HON'BLE COURT DATED:15.12.2025

&RESPONDENTS

(BY SRI. G.S.ARUNA, HCGP FOR R1; SRI. B.S.SACHIN, ADVOCATE FOR R2 AND R3; VIDE ORDER DATED:15.12.2025 R4 IS DELETED)

THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 AND 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, PRAYING TO A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF CERTIORARI QUASHING THE ORDER DATED ORDER DATED 23.09.2025 PASSED BY THE 4TH RESPONDENT IN KNKC NO.195/2022 (CHALLAKERE) AT ANNEXURE-E TO THE WRIT PETITION, ETC.

THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING IN 'B' GROUP, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER:

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE D K SINGH and HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE T.M.NADAF

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ORAL ORDER

(PER: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE D K SINGH)

The present writ petition has been filed impugning

the report of the K N Keshavanarayan Committee constituted by the High Court in W.P.No.51929/2014 and connected writ petitions. The report submitted in the case in KNKC No.195/2022(Challakere) relates to W.P.No.30494-97/2013 and representations made by the petitioners in those writ petitions seeking deletion of their lands from the land acquisition proceedings.

The brief facts have been noted by the Committee in its report. The Committee has taken note of the previous proceedings and the judgment passed by the

Supreme Court in Bondu Ramaswamy and others Vs. Bangalore Development Authority and others reported in (2010) 7 SCC 129 . The said Committee has been constituted to examine the validity and legality of deletion/inclusion of the lands in the Final Notification dated 18.06.2014 issued by the State Government. After

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hearing the parties, the Committee has submitted the

detailed report.

The Committee has made the following

recommendations:

"RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE

1. Representations/Applications submitted by;

(i) Applicant No.1 Sri S Venkatesha Reddy seeking deletion of 27^1/2 guntas in Sy.No.6 and 24 guntas in Sy.No.7;

(ii) Applicant No.2 Sri Ramesh Reddy seeking deletion of 9^1/2 guntas in Sy.No.11 and 06.60 guntas in Sy.No.135/B;

(iii) Applicant No.3 Sri S Nagaraja Reddy seeking deletion of 3^1/2 guntas in Sy.No.6; 6.60 guntas in Sy.No.11 and 6.60 guntas in Sy.No.135/B;

(iv) Applicant No.4 Sri. S Surendra Reddy seeking deletion of 9^1/2 guntas in Sy.no.6 and 06.60 guntas in Sy.No.135/B; and

(v) Applicant No.7 Sri Lokesh Reddy seeking deletion of 28^1/2 guntas and 16 guntas in Sy.No.135/B.

All of Challakere village be rejected and

acquisition in respect of the above lands be taken to its logical end.

2. If absolute sale deeds to any of the allottee of sites formed in the above lands have not been executed,

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the same shall be executed within three months from the date of receipt of this Report and a compliance Report in this regard shall be submitted to this Committee.

3. In the event of any of the Applicants 1 to 8 submitting Application seeking relief under Section 38-D of Bangalore Development Authority Act, in relation to the structures existing on the lands in question, the same be considered by BDA in accordance with law and pass appropriate orders. Forward this report to BDA for further action.

4. In the event of the owners of lands in question opting for allotment of developed sites by way of compensation in lieu of acquisition of lands, same be accommodated in the lands in question itself".

Mr. A. Abhinav Ramanand, learned counsel

appearing for the petitioners submits that though the award has been passed in respect of the land in question, but the amount has neither been deposited in the treasury nor in the Civil Court. It is further submitted that no notice

has been issued to the land owners for the award and therefore, the land acquisition proceedings are liable to be quashed.

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The land acquisition proceedings have been

upheld in the several round of litigation upto the Supreme Court and therefore, there is no question of re-examining the issue which has been concluded. The fact finding Committee constituted by the High Court has given its fair findings mentioning the reasons why the land in question cannot be deleted from the land acquisition proceedings.

The petitioners are therefore entitled either for compensation or the developed land under 6040 scheme. If the petitioners choose to receive the cash compensation they must be adequately compensated by paying the interest from the date of Final Notification till it is deposited. If the petitioners makes the application for allotment of these sites under 6040 scheme, the BDA must consider the application and allot the sites in lieu of the cash compensation. However, if they choose to take the cash compensation, they should be paid the compensation as directed.

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With the aforesaid direction, the writ petition is

disposed of .

Sd/(D K SINGH) JUDGE

Sd/(T.M.NADAF) JUDGE

RKA List No.: 1 Sl No.: 38

Procedural history

How this case reached the court

AI extract

Order under challenge
Order/report dated 23.09.2025 passed by the 4th Respondent in KNKC No.195/2022 (Challakere) (Annexure-E) — the report of the K N Keshavanarayan Committee constituted by the High Court in W.P.No.51929/2014 and connected writ petitions — sought to be quashed; it dealt with the petitioners' representations (relating to W.P.No.30494-97/2013) seeking deletion of their lands from the land acquisition proceedings.¶28
K N Keshavanarayan Committee, KNKC No.195/2022 (Challakere), constituted by the High Court · 23.09.2025
Prior proceeding
Lands of the petitioners were included in the Final Notification dated 18.06.2014 issued by the State Government; the Committee was constituted to examine the validity and legality of deletion/inclusion of lands therein.¶39
Prior proceeding
The K N Keshavanarayan Committee was constituted by the High Court in W.P.No.51929/2014 and connected writ petitions; its report in KNKC No.195/2022(Challakere) relates to W.P.No.30494-97/2013 and the petitioners' representations seeking deletion of their lands.¶37
Prior proceeding
The Committee noted the brief facts, the previous proceedings and the Supreme Court judgment in its report, and submitted a detailed report after hearing the parties.¶38
Prior proceeding
The Committee recommended that the Challakere village applicants' deletion representations be rejected and that acquisition in respect of the above lands be taken to its logical end.¶54
Prior proceeding
The Committee further recommended that, where absolute sale deeds to allottees of sites formed in the above lands had not been executed, they be executed within three months with a compliance report to the Committee.¶59
Prior proceeding
The land acquisition proceedings had been upheld through several rounds of litigation up to the Supreme Court.¶69
Prior proceeding
Within the present writ petition, the fourth respondent was deleted vide order of the Hon'ble Court dated 15.12.2025.¶25