New Delhi, May 27 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday referred to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice B. R. Gavai the Karnataka government’s application challenging a direction for the issuance of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) certificates to the heirs of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family.

CJI Gavai would now study the matter and could give appropriate orders on the constitution of a larger bench to hear the matter.

The direction for placing the matter before the CJI came from a bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta, which expressed reservations about sitting in appeal over an order passed by a coordinate bench of the Supreme Court.

The matter arose out of a May 22 order passed by a bench of Justices M. M. Sundresh and Aravind Kumar, which, while hearing a batch of contempt petitions, directed the Karnataka government to release TDR certificates in respect of 15 acres of Bangalore Palace Grounds acquired by the state, valued at over Rs 3,000 crore in favour of the legal heirs of the Mysuru royal family.

In response, the Karnataka government moved an application in the apex court in a connected civil appeal challenging the direction.

Appearing for the state, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal argued that the May 22 order was issued in a contempt matter, while the present application was filed in an appeal that has been pending since 1997.

Justice Surya Kant observed during the hearing, “How can we sit in appeal over an order passed by a coordinate Bench?”

In support, Sibal submitted, “This order has been passed in a contempt petition, but we are before the court in a connected appeal.”

The bench noted that appropriate orders, including on whether the matter should be heard by a larger bench, must be sought from the Chief Justice of India.

Accordingly, the matter was directed to be placed before CJI Gavai on the administrative side.

The underlying dispute has its roots in 1996, when the Karnataka government enacted the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act, seeking to acquire the Palace Grounds.

The Act was upheld by the Karnataka High Court, which was subsequently challenged by the heirs of the royal family in a civil appeal before the Supreme Court in 1997, which remains pending.

On Monday, the application was mentioned before a bench led by CJI B. R. Gavai, which agreed to list the matter today and remarked on the procedural question whether one bench could effectively review the order of another coordinate bench.

Arguing against the retrospective grant of TDR, Sibal stated, “TDR was permitted only after a 2004 amendment. It cannot be applied retrospectively.”

On the other side, counsel for the claimants submitted that the matter had already become infructuous, asserting that the TDR certificates had already been issued in compliance with the earlier direction.

The issue now awaits further consideration by a larger bench, subject to orders by the Chief Justice of India. UNI SNG SSP