Karnataka High Court Restores Land Acquisition for Bengaluru Central Prison Expansion

The Karnataka High Court has restored the State government’s 2013 acquisition of additional land in Naganathapura village for expanding the Bengaluru Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara.

A Division Bench comprising Justice D.K. Singh and Justice H. Shanthi Bhushan allowed the appeals filed by the State government and set aside the judgment delivered by a single judge bench on May 2, 2025.

Court upholds 2013 notification

The single judge had quashed the final notification issued in August 2013 under Section 6(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

The government had issued a preliminary notification in 2012 to acquire additional land for expanding the prison and its infrastructure.

The proposed expansion included staff quarters and the maintenance of a 200-metre buffer zone from the prison’s outer wall, in accordance with prison norms.

The Division Bench’s ruling means that the 2013 final notification cannot be set aside merely because the Special Land Acquisition Officer had identified difficulties with the proposed acquisition.

Landowners’ objections and alternative site

The owners of the land had raised objections to the 2012 preliminary notification.

After considering those objections, the Special Land Acquisition Officer submitted a report to the government pointing out difficulties in acquiring the land.

The report referred to the high cost of acquisition, the existence of RCC buildings and residential layouts, and a 220 KV high-tension power line, among other issues.

The Special Land Acquisition Officer also suggested that the government use land available with the Prisons Department at Devanahalli for constructing the prison.

The government considered the report but proceeded to issue the final notification in August 2013.

The landowners then challenged the notification before a single judge.

In May 2025, the single judge quashed the notification and directed the government to reconsider the matter on the basis of the Special Land Acquisition Officer’s report and after considering the objections raised by the landowners.

Government had authority to proceed

The Division Bench disagreed with the single judge’s view that the matter had to be reconsidered in that manner.

It held that the Special Land Acquisition Officer’s report had considered the objections raised by the landowners, including the availability of alternative land at Devanahalli.

The Bench also emphasised that the officer’s recommendations were not binding on the government.

According to the ruling, the government was required to independently apply its mind before issuing the final notification.

The Bench further held that the government had latitude to determine the land required for a genuine public purpose.

The purposes identified in the ruling included prison expansion, buffer-zone security and staff quarters.

The Bench also referred to overcrowding at the existing prison facility, which had more than 5,000 inmates.

The court said, “... the acquisition of the notified lands for the expansion of the existing Central Prison serves a bona fide public purpose and cannot be set aside merely on account of hyper-technicalities in the procedure, in the absence of any established violation of a mandatory statutory requirement.”

Directions on existing structures

While upholding the acquisition, the Bench directed the government and its authorities to take necessary steps concerning the structures and developed areas on the notified land.

The direction covers RCC buildings, residential layouts, engineering workshops and developed sites referred to in the Special Land Acquisition Officer’s 2013 report.

The court said these issues must be addressed in accordance with law.

Source: The Hindu