Building plans can be sanctioned only under the building rules or regulations in force at the time of approval of the plans and not under the rules or regulations in force on the date of application for plan sanction, the Karnataka High Court said.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhra and Justice CM Joshi gave its verdict, allowing an appeal filed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) challenging the May 2024 judgment of the single judge, which said the rules in force on the date of application for sanction for the building plan apply.
In 2013, Sangam Enterprises received approval from the BBMP to construct a commercial complex with a multiplex comprising basement, ground floor, first floor, second floor, third floor and a 15-metre terrace.
Later, the firm purchased certain transferable development rights (TDRs) and then sought BBMP sanction for a revised plan in 2014 to add two more floors, seeking a 50% release in the outlying area under the provisions of the revised master plan in force at that time.
However, the BBMP did not consider granting the revised plan by insisting that there would be no objections from various authorities. Following this, the company applied for revised plans in 2017 after getting NOC and insisted that the plan be sanctioned with 50% subsidence area mitigation as per the 2014 rules, even though the subsidence mitigation was reduced to 25% in 2015 by amending the relevant rules.
The single judge, though allowed the petition filed by the firm, but directed the BBMP to issue a modified plan as demanded by the petitioner-firm.
The bench, however, said that the single judge’s conclusion was contrary to the Supreme Court’s 1992 and 2004 verdicts, which upheld the Calcutta High Court’s view that “building plans can be sanctioned only as per the building regulations in force at the time of sanction”.
Published – 16 Oct 2025 23:42 IST
