Transferable Development Rights (TDR) certificates to remain deposited with the Court registry
New Delhi: In a significant relief to the Karnataka Government, the Supreme Court this morning stayed its earlier directive mandating the issuance of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) certificates worth over Rs. 3,400 crore to the legal heirs of Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar and others. The payout pertained to the acquisition of over 15 acres of Bangalore Palace Grounds for the widening of Ballari and Jayamahal Roads.
A Bench, comprising Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and N. Kotiswar Singh, ruled that all TDR certificates must remain deposited with the Court registry.
If already released, TDR certificates are barred from being used or transferred to third parties. The order comes in response to an application filed by Karnataka Government seeking a review of Supreme Court’s earlier May 22 direction, which was issued while hearing a batch of contempt petitions. That order had instructed the Government to release the TDR certificates to the heirs of the erstwhile Mysore Royal Family.
The Court has scheduled the review petition for hearing during the week commencing July 21, 2025. It also stated that if the review petition is dismissed, the interim stay would continue for four weeks thereafter or until the matter is heard by a three-Judge Bench — whichever is later. The main civil appeal in the case has been listed for Aug.18, 2025.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Karnataka Government, led the arguments for modifying the May 22 order. He was supported by Advocate General K. Shashi Kiran Shetty and Additional Advocate General Nishanth Patil.
Appearing for the Royal Family, senior advocates A.K. Ganguli and Gopal Sankaranarayanan opposed State’s plea. Ganguli noted that similar arguments had been rejected multiple times by different Benches. “There has to be some law,” he said, referring to the State’s repeated attempts at seeking modifications.
As an interim safeguard, the Apex Court clarified that all TDR certificates issued following the May 22 contempt ruling must remain with the registry until further orders. To avoid further legal complications, the Court also kept in abeyance the consequential effects of previous orders issued on Dec. 10, 2014; May 17, 2022; March 19, 2024; and May 22, 2025.
While dictating the order, Justice Surya Kant observed that there might have been a “bonafide error” in the original 2014 ruling due to inadequate legal assistance at the time.
The roots of the dispute trace back to 1996 when Karnataka Government enacted Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act to take over Palace Grounds. Though Karnataka High Court upheld the Act, the Royal Family appealed to the Supreme Court in 1997, and the matter has remained pending ever since.
This post was published on May 29, 2025 6:51 pm