HC directs KIADB to decide on alleged SC/ST quota violation in land allotment
CH NEWS BENGALURU The Karnataka High Court has directed the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) to take a decision within eight weeks on a complaint alleging violation of the SC/ST reservation roster in allotting 100 acres of industrial land to Reliance Consumer Products Limited in Vijayapura district. The direction was issued by a Division Bench comprising Justice Anu Sivaraman and Justice K S Bharath Kumar while disposing of a public interest litigation filed by social activist Basavaraj S Malaghan, a resident of Agarkhed village in Indi taluk. Plea seeks cancellation During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel submitted that land in Mulawad Industrial Area Phase II had been earmarked for entrepreneurs belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities, backward classes, persons with disabilities and ex-servicemen to establish industries. The petitioner alleged that 100 acres had been allotted to Reliance Consumer Products Limited on October 24, 2025, in violation of the SC/ST reservation roster, and sought cancellation of the allotment. KIADB to examine complaint Appearing for the State, Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty submitted that 24% of the land was required to be reserved for SC/ST communities and that the prescribed quota had been maintained. “The petitioner’s representation will be considered in accordance with the law,” the Advocate General assured the court. After hearing both sides, the Bench directed the KIADB Chief Executive Officer to consider the representation submitted by the petitioner on August 5, 2026, and take an appropriate decision within eight weeks. The court disposed of the petition with this direction. The order requires the authority to examine the complaint and decide it in accordance with the law; it does not itself cancel the land allotment.
LAND ALLOTMENT CASE
• LOCATION: Mulawad Industrial Area Phase II, Vijayapura • LAND: 100 acres • ALLOTTEE: Reliance Consumer Products Limited • ALLOTMENT DATE: October 24, 2025 • REPRESENTATION DATE: August 5, 2026 • DECISION DEADLINE: Eight weeks • AUTHORITY: Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board
What the court has ordered
The High Court has not ruled that the land allotment was illegal. It has directed KIADB to examine the petitioner’s representation and take a decision within eight weeks. The petitioner alleges that the allotment violated the reservation roster for SC/ST entrepreneurs. The State, however, maintains that the prescribed 24% land reservation for SC/ST communities has been protected. The authority must now consider the complaint in accordance with the law.
