Mysuru: The Supreme Court has given some relief to the residents of Vijayashreepura by asking the Karnataka High Court to dispose of writ petitions and writ appeals filed by the residents who are desperately trying to save their houses from demolition. The SC has given time till April this year for the HC to adjudicate the cases and there will be no demolition of houses till then.

MUDA sources and residents told Star of Mysore this morning that the SC passed the orders on Jan. 12 and has fixed the next hearing on 13.4.2018.

Member of Mysuru royal family Chaduranga Kantharaj Urs, who had petitioned the Supreme Court against land acquisition at Vijayashreepura by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), had again (in the first week of January 2018) moved the SC regarding the compensation to be paid to him and his family members by MUDA and the SC had posted the hearing to Jan. 12.

It may be recalled here that in June 2017, MUDA Chairman D. Dhruvakumar and Kantharaj Urs had said that the solution to the Vijayashreepura Layout was reached amicably at a meeting with CM Siddharamaiah.

As per the solution, Kantharaj Urs, son of Sirdar K.B. Ramachandra Raje Urs would withdraw his petition in the SC and accept the compensation provided by MUDA. Dhruvakumar had then said that the MUDA would pay the compensation to Kantharaj Urs and his family as per the 2001 guidance value and as per Section 180 of Karnataka Land Acquisition Act 1961.

Accordingly, on Jan. 12, MUDA deposited the compensation cheque for Rs. 56 crore in Supreme Court that is to be paid to Kantharaj Urs and his family. Of the Rs. 56 crore, JSS institutions (a part of the land has been given to the JSS institutions by MUDA to set up colleges) paid Rs. 28 crore and MUDA paid the remaining Rs. 28 crore.

Hearing a set of Interlocutory Applications (IA) filed by the residents, the Supreme Court, on Jan. 12, did not consider the eviction appeals in the case. Residents told the Court that they were not encroachers and were legally living at Vijayashreepura since 1988 and were paying taxes and development charges to MUDA and the Mysuru City Corporation.

Producing vital documents to the Court, residents said that it was MUDA which allotted house sites (in 23.5-acre Vijayashreepura) on the lands and they had records to prove their claims. They also told the Court that Writ Petitions and Writ Appeals have been filed at the Karnataka High Court also.

Hearing the residents, the Supreme Court directed the High Court to dispose of the Writ Petitions and Writ appeals by April 2018 and also submit a report (to the SC) in this regard.

The then City Improvement Trust Board (now MUDA) acquired the 94.28-acre land abutting Manasagangothri, the PG campus of University of Mysore in 1984-85 (final acquisition in 1988) which was questioned in the court by Chaduranga   Kantharaj Urs and his family  as MUDA failed to pay compensation.

Later, MUDA allotted 15 acres to JSS Mahavidyapeeta. Out of the remaining 79.28 acres, 23.5 acres was developed as Vijayashreepura Layout. Hearing the petition filed by Kantharaj Urs, the Apex Court, on December 16, 2015, had ruled against the acquisition of the land by MUDA and had ordered demolition of the buildings. The SC order has not been implemented following appeals from the residents.