Sell marginal site to neighbour: High Court to civic agency

S Shyam Prasad | NT

The High Court of Karnataka has directed the Belagavi Urban Development Authority (BUDA) to register a marginal site measuring 10 x 60 feet to the owner of the site immediately bordering it. One Madiwalayya Channabasayya Hiremath had purchased a corner site from BUDA in an auction.

But he found that there was excess land towards one of the roads abutting his site. His request for its allotment to him went unanswered by the authorities and he had to approach the HC. The HC has now directed that he be given the additional land.

He will have to pay the same value at which he purchased his site. Hiremath had won the auction for the corner site numbered 19. BUDA registered the site in his name for a consideration of Rs 6,24,000. The western and northern boundaries of this site are a nine metre-road as per records.

But Hiremath noticed that there was an additional 10 feet by 60 feet abutting his property. His request for its allotment was rejected by BUDA which said that there was no provision for allotment of this bit of land and the said property would have to be auctioned.

The HC however noted that the rules state that “where the width of a corner site is not more than half of the width of the adjacent site, such corner site would have to be amalgamated with the adjacent site and such amalgamated site is deemed to be a corner site.”

The HC said that it was the mistake of the BUDA. “This piquant situation has arisen only because of the mistake on the part of the authority in not noticing the exact extent of land being available between the edge of the road and the adjacent site before conducting the auction,” the HC said.

The HC said that “the Authority cannot obviously auction a strip of land whose width is just 10 feet, ie just one fourth of the original corner site. Hiremath had purchased his site at Rs 260 per square feet. Therefore “in order to do substantial justice to both the Urban Development Authority and the petitioner,” the HC ordered that “it would be just and necessary to direct the petitioner to pay an additional sale consideration at the rate of Rs 260 per square feet for this strip of land measuring 10 feet by 60 feet (which would be a sum of Rs 1,56,000) and execute a rectification deed in favour of the petitioner.”

The HC said that by virtue of the rectification deed, “the site No 19 would have to be treated as an amalgamated site measuring 50 feet x 60 feet instead of 40 feet x 60 feet.”