Bengaluru | September 7, 2026 | INFRAINTEL Bureau
(The New Indian Express)
Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda has challenged the Karnataka Cabinet’s direction to allot 1,453 sites to land losers under the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project, alleging conflict with earlier court rulings and government positions.
In a letter to Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Gowda argued that sites could not lawfully be formed on land acquired for roads, interchanges and related infrastructure under the 1997 Framework Agreement. He cited positions taken by the state before the Supreme Court in 2016 and the High Court in 2023 and 2026.
Gowda sought details of when the proposed sites were formed, who approved them and whether the actual beneficiaries would include Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise and its investors rather than only dispossessed landholders.
Shivakumar rejected the accusation, said the government would act within the legal framework and seek legal advice, and argued that farmers who lost property required protection.
The competing claims require examination of the Cabinet decision, survey-level land classification, court orders, compensation agreements and beneficiary records. Until those documents are tested, allegations of illegality or private benefit should not be treated as established facts.