Cracking the Whip: Karnataka CMs Lose the Power to Denotify Lands

Karnataka CM cannot denotify land acquired for public purposes; the power has been transferred to the Cabinet.

Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister of Karnataka, at the state Legislative Assembly (Photo: The News Minute)

Karnataka has a chequered history when it comes to the denotification of lands by chief ministers. This starts from the CID indicting former chief ministers BS Yeddyurappa, HD Kumaraswamy and N Dharam Singh over the same issue from 2007 to 2012.

Present Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too has been accused of denotifying 541 acres of land in violation of the Karnataka High Court’s directions.

The state government has now taken away that discretionary power and handed it over to a committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary. A three-step procedure will be initiated in order to prevent “unilateral” decisions by chief ministers to denotify land.

B Basavaraju the Principal Secretary of the state Revenue Department told the Times of India,

All denotifications will henceforth have to be cleared by a high-level official committee headed by the additional chief secretary before it is placed before the state Cabinet for final approval.

The report further said that the changes are in tune with Section 93(1) of the UPA’s Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. This will be enforced from next year, according to the Times of India.