March 05, 2019:

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court allowed an appeal by the Karnataka Government against the National Green Tribunal's order of May 4, 2016, which enlarged the buffer zone limits around lakes and water bodies in Bengaluru.

A bench comprising of Justice A K Sikri and Justice S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah pronounced the judgement in the batch of appeals.

The Court had on Jan 24 reserved its judgement on the petition also filed by real estate developers, challenging the validity of the National Green Tribunal's order.

NGO 'Forward Foundation' had filed the application before the NGT, which passed its judgement on May 4, 2016.

The tribunal's direction for maintaining a buffer zone and green belt of 75-metre in case of lakes, 50-metre for primary, 35-metre for secondary and 25-metre for tertiary 'Rajkulewas' had caused alarm bells ringing in Bengaluru. The state government claimed that the buffer zone was already fixed in the law and in the 2015 revised master plan as 30-metre.

The state, represented by Advocate General Udaya Holla, had contended the order would lead to the demolition of 95 % of buildings and would force the government to pay a compensation of Rs three lakh crore to citizens.

The NGO led by Senior Advocate Sajan Povayya said the order by the tribunal would be applicable to the future constructions only. He, however, maintained that the NGT was empowered under the law to issue orders for protecting ecology and environment.

The State, for its part, said the tribunal could never issue orders changing the statutory provisions.

During the arguments real estate developers Mantri Techzone and Core Mind, represented by senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi, N K Kaul, Maninder Singh and R Venkatramani, among others, contended that the tribunal disregarded the environmental clearance granted to their projects under the law.

The State Government said the tribunal had granted the relief in the matter which was not even prayed for. The NGO, for its part, said the state of lakes and water bodies had grossly deteriorated in the city, affecting its ecology and environment of the city.

The Apex Court had earlier in Dec 2016 stayed the NGT's directions to the extent of Rs 117 crore penalty imposed on Mantri Techzone Pvt Ltd and Rs 13.5 crore on Core Mind Software and Services Pvt Ltd for encroachment of water bodies in Bengaluru.

The Court, however had, then refused to interfere with other directions by the tribunal.

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