New Delhi : In a breather for union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, the Supreme Court on Friday set aside a Karnataka High Court direction to the Bangalore Development Authority to repossess a residential plot allotted to him.
An apex court bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice S A Bobde also held that Gowda did not exercise his influence as Karnataka’s deputy leader of opposition and later as chief minister to arm-twist the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) or Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to decide in his favour.
The court rejected the contention that Gowda being an influential politician, and also the chief minister at the relevant point of time, could have made it impossible for any of the statutory authorities to come to any conclusion adverse to his interest despite an ex facie and egregious violation of the lease agreement sanction building plan.
“It is difficult to accept such a blanket and free-wheeling submission, particularly in the absence of any material on record,” the court said.
“This is not to say that in no circumstance can a statutory body not be influenced by a politician who has considerable clout. A lot depends on the facts of each case and the surrounding circumstances,” the court said.
