Clearing the air on the Shivaram Karanth Layout, the AV Chandrashekhar Committee on Monday reiterated that there was no question of dropping the layout plan. The panel, formed to identify lawful constructions in the layout, urged people not to fall prey to rumours spread by a few farmer leaders.
Committee chairman Justice A V Chandrashekhar said people were being misled and this has created an air of confusion among site owners. “The matter has been decided in the Supreme Court and as many as 40 pleas seeking a review of the judgement have already been rejected. This shows that the layout plan will not be dropped,” he explained.
By making such statements, he said farmer leaders were “virtually trying to negate the Supreme Court’s order”. People were now hesitant to submit their documents to the committee to verify and report back to the Supreme Court.
Even after a month of opening up help desks and an online portal to collect the documents, the committee has received only 1,850 applications, although there are an estimated 7,500 constructions in the proposed layout.
The committee has an April 30 deadline for people to submit their documents. The date may be extended on public request, Justice Chandrashekhar said. The panel has sought help from the revenue department and expects more people to submit their applications in the coming weeks.
On initiating action against leaders misleading the public, the chairman said: “We had earlier issued a notice to Kodihalli Chandrashekhar (of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha). We have still not received any response from them. We have reported this to the Supreme Court.”
The Supreme Court had initially decided to protect only the lawful constructions in the layout. But on March 18, 2021, the apex court issued another notification, asking the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to protect revenue sites and layouts as well. The court has asked the BDA to submit a report based on its experience in handling such situations in other layouts.