The construction of a bridge over a rajakaluve (storm-water drain) to connect private properties on either side of the drain, cannot be termed as an encroachment, said the High Court of Karnataka.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order while allowing a petition filed by M/s Janaadhar India Pvt. Ltd., a housing company.
The petitioner-company had questioned the action of the tahsildar of Anekal taluk in Bengaluru Urban district, in treating the construction of three overbridges constructed by the company as encroachments, and putting up a notice on the property stating that the bridges encroach upon the rajakaluve.
The tahsildar acted on a complaint by one P.M. Krishna in 2016 on the construction of the bridges to connect the apartment complexes, named Janaadhar Shubha, constructed on land in survey numbers 39/1, 39/2, 40/3, and 42/1 of M. Medahalli village, Attibele hobli, in Anekal taluk.
The company, after obtaining permission from the Nelamangala Town Planning Authority in 2013, had constructed 1,128 flats on the land and had also secured occupancy certificates.
The court noted that the planning authority, which had approved the plan for apartment complex on either sides of the rajakaluve after securing the ‘no objection’ of the tahsildar, had not found any violation of the sanctioned plan.
Also, the court pointed out that the tahsildar did not find any construction within the rajakaluve obstructing the flow of water.
The petitioner-company had constructed the overbridges to enable the residents of apartment complex to go from one area to the other since the rajakaluve bifurcates the property, the court noted, while pointing out the complaint of encroachment is meaningless when the tahsildar himself had certified the plan, before construction of apartment complex, indicating that there was no encroachment in the plan submitted before the authority for approval.
Meanwhile, the court directed the tahsildar to remove the notice board.
