Deve Gowda Questions Karnataka Cabinet Move on 1,453 BMICP Sites, Cites Court Orders

Bengaluru, Sept 7 : Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Karnataka government over its reported decision to allot 1,453 sites to land losers under the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP), questioning whether the move amounts to defiance of Supreme Court orders and contradicts the State government's own long-standing position on the project.

In an open letter to Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Deve Gowda questioned the legal basis of the Cabinet's September 4 decision directing Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Ltd (NICEL) to allot the sites.

He asked whether the decision effectively permitted the formation of sites on land earmarked for roads and road infrastructure, despite earlier judicial rulings and affidavits filed by the State government before the courts.

Deve Gowda recalled that during contempt proceedings before the Supreme Court in 2016, the State government had categorically maintained that approving sites at road interchanges was contrary to the Framework Agreement (FWA) dated April 3, 1997.

The government had then submitted that it was bound by the Supreme Court-affirmed mandamus to implement the BMICP and the FWA in their "strict letter and spirit", and that permitting sites at interchanges could expose it to contempt proceedings, he said.

He further pointed out that the State government had challenged before the Supreme Court a High Court Division Bench order permitting NICEL to obtain planning approval for group housing schemes and residential layouts on interchange lands.

According to Deve Gowda, the Supreme Court upheld the State government's position and made it clear that NICEL was bound by the FWA. He said the court also held that formation of sites at interchanges or on land handed over for roads and road infrastructure had no basis in the FWA and would defeat the objective of the BMICP to reduce urban congestion.

Deve Gowda said the State government had reiterated the same position as recently as March 2023, when it rejected NICEL's representation seeking allotment of sites to land losers, stating that sites could not be formed on lands acquired for roads and road infrastructure under the FWA.

He also referred to a January 2026 High Court ruling which, he said, categorically held that compensation could not be provided through sites formed at interchanges or on land handed over for roads in violation of the FWA.

"Yet, your Cabinet says it has approved the allotment of sites to compensate land losers," Deve Gowda said, questioning the apparent contradiction between the government's earlier legal position and its latest decision.

He demanded to know when and under whose authority the proposed sites were formed.

The sites are reportedly proposed to be allotted in Madavara, Kodigehalli, Kengeri, Kommaghatta, Varahasandra, Sompura, Pillaganahalli, Kemathanahalli, UM Kaval, Chikkathoguru, Pantharapalya, K.G. Srikantapura and Gangondanahalli.

"It is a matter of public record that lands in these villages fall within the road/road infrastructure component of the BMICP," he said.

Deve Gowda also linked the Cabinet decision to financial dealings of NICEL that were examined during recent High Court proceedings.

Referring to July 2026 Division Bench proceedings, he said the court had taken note of company balance sheets showing advances of Rs 36 crore to Rs 48 crore towards land sales and Joint Development Agreements over several financial years.

The court had also examined the monetisation of project lands and toll collections, while completed portions of the Link Road and Peripheral Road were capitalised as assets in the company's financial statements, he said.

Deve Gowda further said the court had called for a forensic audit of NICEL's accounts and expressed doubts over whether such an exercise would actually be undertaken.

He alleged that the court had observed that the project amounted to a "fraud on the statute and Constitution" and questioned whether it had served any genuine public purpose.

In his strongest attack, Deve Gowda asked whether the Cabinet's latest decision had vindicated the court's apprehensions about the State's role in the project.

"Has your Cabinet just approved the formation of sites in the teeth of Supreme Court judgments and the stand of the government you head for over a decade now?" he asked.

He also questioned whether the proposed allotment would genuinely benefit land losers or primarily NICEL and its investors.

"Are the real beneficiaries of the sites not the land losers but NICEL and its investors? Are the investors in your Cabinet, Chief Minister? The State wants to know," Deve Gowda said.