Mysuru:  Chief Minister Siddharamaiah yesterday skipped the inaugural ceremony of the new City Police Commissioner’s Office that has been built in Nazarbad, reportedly due to a dispute surrounding the land. With this, the inaugural ceremony was postponed.

Sources said that after the CM postponed the inauguration, rumours spread that Siddharamaiah did not go to the Police Commissioner’s Office because the building has been built on a disputed site.

However, the organisers at the Police Commissioner’s office announced that the ceremony has been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances.

The 3-storey building built on heritage lines, has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs.16.76 crore.

Following a writ petition filed by M.R. Ashok Kumar and two others, claiming that the Police Commissioner’s office was built on the land that was earmarked for a park, the High Court (HC) in September 2016, had ordered a stay on the construction work. However, the MUDA had contended that according to the revised master plan, the land was a  public area. The case is scheduled to come up for hearing in the HC on Mar. 21, according to sources. Had the CM inaugurated the Commissioner’s office, it would have become a matter of sub-judice and as such the inauguration was postponed, the sources added.