Karnataka High Court deprecates BBMP for failing to issue TDR from past 14 years despite using land for road

The High Court of Karnataka has deprecated the conduct of the then Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for failing to issue Transferable Development Rights (TDR) till today despite utilising a private land to form a road in 2012, and for coming out with “preposterous claim of fraud” 14 years after execution of land’s relinquishment deeds in favour of the BBMP.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while allowing a petition filed by Lakshmi, 57-year-old widow, and her children, who are legal heirs of the late Puttaswamy.

It was stated in the petition that the BBMP issued notification in January 2012 for acquiring certain lands for the formation of road in Hoskerehalli, and the notification offered the landowners the facility to opt for TDR instead of monetary compensation.

Puttaswamy, whose land were mentioned in the notification, executed relinquishment deed in April 2012.

Not paid heed

After the death of Puttaswamy, Lakshmi and her children have lived through a bureaucratic hassle as the BBMP did not heed to a series of representations for issuance of the TDR. She has claimed in her latest representation that “Puttaswamy had died of heart attack due to non-issuance of the TDR that caused stress in repaying his debt” while pointing to financial stress the family is now facing.

Meanwhile, the BBMP, while admitting execution of relinquish deed, claimed before the court in 2025 that though the deed was executed “fraudulently” through its then Additional Commissioner while contending that execution of the deed was an error land was “not used” for the formation of the road.

Rejecting the BBMP’s claim, the court pointed out that not a piece of paper was produced before the court by the BBMP to demonstrate that approval for execution of relinquishment deeds were taken erroneously. As the BBMP claimed that original records were not available, the court, from the note sheets of the official files, found reference to process of approval of relinquishment deeds.

Claim rejected

Having executed the relinquishment deed, the BBMP “cannot strip off the rights of the citizen, on a specious plea that it was an error. The petitioners today have neither the lands nor the TDR or any amount as compensation. Even the relinquishment deeds are intact even today,” the court noted while directing issuance of the TDR within three months.