BDA sells corner ‘CA site’

•  CA site leased for nursing home in 1973
• Refused to issue clean purchase deed in 1988, 2009, 2103
• Clean purchase deed for general residential site for ₹2 crore in July 2024

• Commissioner had rejected it saying ‘clean purchase deed cannot be issued’ for 30 years

BDA sells corner ‘CA site’

Kere Manjunath ಕೆರೆ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ್

Bengaluru: The Bangalore Development Authority has issued a ‘Absolute sale deed’ instead of auction for a site worth about ₹23.20 crore for ₹2 crore, violating several of its own recommendations .

The BDA has also violated the government order issued on July 31, 2020, stating that if the site allocated on lease basis is to be issued to the respective institutions, they should pay the guideline price.

Corner plot number 27/A, 40th Cross Road, 1st A Main Road, Jayanagar 8th Block was given to Dr. L.S. Boregowda on a 10-year lease in 1973 by the ‘City Improvement Trust Board’ for the purpose of a nursing home. The Chairman of the Trust dated February 5, 1973, had mentioned in the allotment deed of the CA site as ‘Private Nursing Home and Hospital Only’. The total value of the site was ₹24,004, out of which ₹23,883 was to be paid, and the remaining ₹120 was to be paid every year during the 10-year lease period.

A ‘lease agreement’ was made as per these rules. Boregowda has submitted a petition to the Bangalore Development Authority since 1988 itself, demanding that a ‘clean purchase deed’ be made after the 10-year lease period had expired. Responding to this, the then BDA Commissioner wrote to Boregowda on June 28, 1988, clarifying that ‘According to the rules of CA sites, a CA site cannot be transferred to an individual. Your application is rejected.’

Boregowda had written to the BDA in 2008 and 2013 to issue a purchase deed. However, on May 14, 2009 and May 21, 2013, the Commissioner wrote to Boregowda and stated that ‘based on the opinion of the legal officers, a purchase deed cannot be issued for the CA site.’

In a meeting of the authority in 2015, ‘Boregowda has made several requests and has requested to register a pure purchase deed since he has built a nursing home and a residential house on the site. His children have requested to divide the site into common sites and issue a pure purchase deed. This should be examined.’

‘In the 2018 meeting of the authority, the opinion of the legal officers and the urban planning officers was that this is not a CA site. It has been decided to issue a clean purchase deed. The Urban Development Department should give its consent to this,’ the Commissioner wrote to the Urban Development Department on April 2, 2019.

The BDA, which issued a clean purchase deed to Boregowda’s children Srihari Boregowda, Srinidhi Boregowda, Srisai Gowda, Srimai Sunil on July 12, 2024, stated, ‘Considering this as an exceptional case, since there is a road on both sides, it has been decided to register the Absolute sale deed by paying 10% of the prevailing site price.’

Valued at ₹60 crore!

‘The Stamp and Registration Department has decided that the properties located at 40 feet road, block 8, Jayanagar, are commercial plots and has fixed a price of ₹2.9 lakh per square meter. The BDA has issued a clean purchase deed for the 8,000 square feet ‘CA plot’ at plot 27/A here for ₹2 crore, which is ₹23.20 crore as per the guidelines. At the market rate, this exceeds ₹60 crore. The BDA has issued the purchase deed in violation of all rules,’ Kumar, who has obtained the document under the Right to Information Act, complained.

It was not considered a CA plot, but was wrongly considered: Jayaram

‘Our officials had misinterpreted the ‘City Improvement Trust Board’ plot allotted for the purpose of a nursing home as a ‘civil facility’ plot. They had already paid the required amount and taken the plot on lease. Since it was a corner plot, the purchase deed was made by paying 10 percent, i.e. ₹2 crore, at the current rate. Plot 27-A of Jayanagar 8th Block is not listed as a civic amenity plot in the layout map. Therefore, the misunderstanding of the BDA officials was corrected and a decision was taken in the board meeting and the plot was registered,' BDA Commissioner N. Jayaram told.