Shopowners can't seek space allotment sans auction: Court

BENGALURU: Merely because they were using the premises of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for several decades, shopowners cannot automatically seek allotment of a store without going through the process of auction, the high court observed in a recent order.
Dismissing a petition filed by some shopowners from Gandhi Bazaar, the court reserved liberty for them to take part in the auction once the new market complex is completed. The court said till then, the petitioners should not be disturbed from their temporary allotment, subject to payment of past dues and future licence fees.
"That the petitioners are small businessmen and women and they may not be able to participate in the auction cannot be grounds for direct allotment to them since the property in question is public property and the same cannot be dealt with by the corporation (BBMP) in any manner contrary to the principles of the Transparency Act...," Justice Suraj Govindaraj observed in his order.
KR Vinayaka and others had challenged the February 22, 2023 notice issued by the BBMP calling upon them to vacate their premises. The civic body had said that since the existing market building is in a dilapidated condition, it needs to be demolished and rebuilt under the Smart City programme.
Challenging this, the petitioners claimed that they have been running businesses in the old market for several decades and have been paying the due licence. Apart from seeking allotment of shops in the new market complex without an auction process as a goodwill measure, they also sought alternative temporary accommodation to operate their businesses.
On the other hand, the civic body argued that merely because the petitioners have been in occupation of the premises for several decades, they cannot continue to do so when the building is dilapidated and is a serious threat to all its occupants.
After going through the contentions, Justice Govindaraj pointed out that once a building is dilapidated and needs to be demolished in the interest of the public, shop licensees cannot have any grounds not to vacate the premises. The judge also said that any fresh allotments in new buildings constructed by BBMP using public funds would have to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.