Bangalore Palace land controversy: Apex Court directs State Govt. to implement TDR order

Order non-negotiable; Your officers will be in soup if the order is not implemented: SC Bench

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed the Karnataka Government to implement its previous order regarding the issuance of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) under the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 to the legal heirs of the late scion of the erstwhile Mysore royal family, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar.

The TDR pertains to the land at Bangalore Palace Grounds, which was earmarked for widening Ballari and Jayamahal Roads — key routes to reach the Kempegowda International Airport, Devanahalli. The Court made it clear that the order is non-negotiable and has to be implemented.

A Bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and Aravind Kumar, addressing senior advocate Kapil Sibal and Karnataka’s Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty yesterday, stated, “We have passed the order; it is non-negotiable. Your officers will be in soup if the order is not implemented.”

Sibal and Shetty argued that the State Government had promulgated an Ordinance and decided not to utilise the disputed land. “We have decided to give up the acquisition. We do not want to acquire it. Till the  Ordinance is in place and until it is challenged or struck down, we cannot implement the order, as it is law,” Sibal contended  before the Bench.

However, senior advocates A.K. Ganguli, Madhavi Divan, and Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the petitioners, asserted that issuing the Ordinance was a direct defiance of the Supreme Court’s order. They pointed out that the Ordinance was promulgated only after the six-week deadline set by the Court for implementing its order had expired.

Sibal also noted that the State Government had previously succeeded in its original appeal before the High Court and that the main matter was still pending adjudication.

The Bench, however, stated that it would address all the issues and scheduled the matter for consideration in two weeks. The Commissioners of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), who were present in person, were instructed to appear before the Court again on the next date of hearing.

On Jan. 29, 2025, the State Government notified the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Ordinance 2025. The Ordinance enabled the Karnataka Government to bypass the Supreme Court’s directive to grant Rs. 3,011 crore in TDR to the legal heirs of the Maharaja of Mysore.

The Ordinance has temporarily halted the acquisition of the Palace land. Furthermore, it allows the Government to limit compensation to Rs. 2.3 lakh per acre instead of the Supreme Court’s directive, which equates to nearly Rs. 200 crore per acre under the TDR guidelines.

The dispute stems from the 1996 Mysore Palace Acquisition and Transfer Act, contested in the Supreme Court by members of the royal family.  Spanning 472 acres and 16 guntas, the Palace Grounds were acquired under the 1996 Act, with Rs. 11 crore earmarked as total compensation.

Earlier, the State Government had argued that issuing the TDR certificate as per the prescribed rules for the 15 acres and 39 guntas of land would lead to an additional 13,91,742 sq. ft. of buildable area in Bengaluru.

After deducting 60 percent of the guidance value, the Government estimated the notional worth of the TDR at approximately Rs. 1,396 crore.