KIADB office’s assets seized over delay in aid
The court order, delivered on March 6, mandated the seizure of KIADB office furniture if the officials failed to release the pending compensation amounting to approximately ₹63 crore within 90 days
Officials from the Bellary district senior civil judge court, along with local farmers, seized furniture from the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) office following a court order issued on Tuesday over non-payment of compensation for land acquisitions owed to farmers.
The court order, delivered on March 6, mandated the seizure of KIADB office furniture if the officials failed to release the pending compensation amounting to approximately ₹63 crore within 90 days. The KIADB office in Davangere covers the districts of Bellary, Haveri, and Chitradurga.
In 2011, KIADB acquired land from farmers in 10 villages, including Kuditini village in Bellary taluk, for industrial projects by Brahmini Steels, Uttam Galva, and NMDC companies, owned by former minister and current Gangavati MLA Janardhana Reddy. The acquisition rate was fixed ₹5 lakh per acre for about 150 acres of land.
However, dissatisfied with the compensation, farmers filed a lawsuit in 2013 seeking higher compensation.
In 2023, the court ruled in favour of the farmers, ordering KIADB to pay an additional ₹5 lakh per acre.
Despite this ruling, KIADB failed to distribute the mandated compensation, prompting the court to issue the seizure order.
“The KIADB owes ₹49 crore in compensation for acquired land in the Bellary district. We have informed higher authorities about the court orders and plan to deposit the amount in court within a couple of days,” G Nazma, KIADB’s special land acquisition officer tol HT.