Idgah Maidan, Karnataka HC and Supreme Court

Karnataka High Court's take on Idgah Ground matter can raise insecurities among house owners living on leasehold properties. How? Let's read the perspective put forth by Dr. Nalini Ranjan Mohanty.

A piquant situation was created in Karnataka yesterday with regard to the decree of the Supreme Court of India and the Karnataka High Court (the first came in the evening and the second late night) regarding the installing of Ganesh idols in the Idgah Maidan during the Ganesh festival. Admittedly, the venues were different; the apex court refused permission for going ahead with the holding of the Ganesh festival at the Idgah ground in Bengaluru but the Karnataka HC endorsed the decision of the competent authorities to celebrate the Ganesh festival at Idgah maidan in Hubbali, about 400 kms away from the state capital.

The SC bench's position was unambiguous: the Idgah ground in Bengaluru has been under the administrative and physical control of the WAKF Board for 200 years; but the Board's ownership of the almost 2.5 acre land has been challenged by certain organisations; until the dispute is legally settled, the status quo must prevail.

But the High Court took a different view on the matter with regard to the land in Hubbali-Dharwad region. The High Court said that even as the Idgah Maidan in Hubbali has been under the administrative and physical control of Anjuman-i-Islam for decades, legally it is not the owner of the land; it is a lessee; the owner is Hubbali Dharwad Municipal Corporation which has leased out the land for 999 years. The High Court concluded that despite having leased out the land, being the legal owner, the Hubbali Dharwad Municipal Corporation is entitled to use the Idgah ground for any purpose it likes.

The High Court's contention may sound strange to many, especially the house owners in Noida, for example. By a strange logic, almost all properties in Noida are leasehold. Unlike in Delhi, one cannot convert the leasehold into freehold here. That is why if a homeowner wants to sell the house, he has to pay a stiff charge (it was almost Rs 10 lakh for a property worth Rs 1 crore till two years ago) to the Noida Authority for getting the NOC for the same.

By using the High Court's logic, being the ultimate legal owner, the Noida Authority can ask a homeowner to vacate the house for some time (say, for three days) as it wants to use the premises for some other purposes! Doesn't that sound a bit preposterous?