Former PM Deve Gowda Opposes Site Allotment for BMICP Losers

Bengaluru: Former Indian Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Monday questioned the Karnataka government's reported decision to allot 1,453 sites to land losers of the BMICP, alleging that the move could be contrary to Supreme Court judgments and the government's own earlier stand on the issue.

In an open letter to Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, the JD(S) patriarch said the Cabinet had directed Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Limited (NICEL) on September 4 to allot the sites (plots) and alleged that the government was attempting to "subvert the rule of law" by claiming judicial sanction for the decision.

"The impunity with which your Cabinet believes it can subvert the rule of law by drawing the wool over the eyes of the public is breathtaking," Gowda said.

He recalled that the state government had told the Supreme Court in 2016 that permitting formation of sites at Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP) interchanges was contrary to the Framework Agreement (FWA) of April 3, 1997 and could amount to contempt of court orders.

Gowda said the Supreme Court had subsequently upheld the government's stand and categorically held that NICEL was bound by the FWA, while formation of sites at interchanges and on lands handed over for roads and road infrastructure had "no foundation in the FWA" and would undermine the project's objective of reducing urban congestion.

He also pointed to the government's stand before the High Court in March 2023, rejecting NICEL's request to allot sites to land losers on the ground that sites could not be formed on land acquired for roads and road infrastructure under the FWA.

"In January of this year, the High Court categorically held that compensation cannot be by way of sites formed at interchanges or on lands handed over for roads in contravention of the FWA," Gowda said.

He questioned the proposed allotment of sites in Madavara, Kodigehalli, Kengeri, Komaghatta, Varahasandra, Sompura, Pillaganahalli, Kemathanahalli, UM Kaval, Chikkathoguru, Pantharapalya, K G Srikantapura and Gangondanahalli, claiming the lands in these villages fall within the road and road-infrastructure component of BMICP.

"When were the sites which are to be allotted formed? Who granted approval for the formation of these sites," he asked.

Gowda also referred to the Karnataka High Court's July 2026 observations on NICEL's financial records, including advances from sale of land and Joint Development Agreements, and alleged that the project had become a source of illegal profits for its promoters.

The former prime minister said the court had described the conduct as "a fraud on the statute and Constitution" and observed that the project had not served public good or public purpose but private interests of its proponents.

Gowda further questioned whether the Cabinet's latest decision had vindicated the court's apprehension that a forensic audit of NICEL's accounts may never be undertaken because the state itself was allegedly an accomplice in the project proponents' activities.

"Has your Cabinet just proved that the Court's doubt is indubitably fact? Has your Cabinet just approved the formation of sites in the teeth of Supreme Court judgments and the stand of the government you have been headed for over a decade now," he asked.

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