The High Court of Karnataka on Monday restrained further construction of a ‘new’ hall being put up by the Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association (KSGEA) in Cubbon Park while directing that another building, put up by the Horticulture Department for housing HOPCOMs, should not be occupied without permission from the court.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum passed the interim order on a petition filed by Cubbon Park Walkers’ Association, which had sought action against constructions illegally put up in the notified Cubbon Park by various government and non-government organisations in violation of a 2001 direction of the High Court.
Earlier, it was contended on behalf of the government that the areas where the constructions were being carried out by the KSGEA and the Horticulture Department were excluded from the areas falling in Cubbon Park in 2015 by redefining the boundaries of the park by modifying the 1998 notification. It was also contended by the government that the constructions are not new ones but renovations being carried out after taking permission from the government.
The petitioner had contended that the court had in 2001 specifically directed the government not to allow any new constructions in the area notified as Cubbon Park in the 1998 notification without taking clearance from the court before proceeding with the construction.
The petitioner had alleged that the Public Works Department permitted organisations like the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the Century Club, the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, the Karnataka Government Secretariat Club, the Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association, the Press Club of Bangalore, and the Young Men’s Christian Association, to carry out constructions sans permission from the court.
