- 1 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:22827 WP No. 53 of 2021 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 26TH DAY OF JUNE, 2025 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM WRIT PETITION NO.53 OF 2021 (LB-BMP) BETWEEN: M/S. NITESH URBAN DEVELOPMENT PVT. LTD. A COMPANY REGISTERED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE COMPANIES ACT, 1956 PRESENTLY KNOWN AS NUDPL VENTURES PRIVATE LIMITED HAVING ITS OFFICE AT: NO.110A, LEVEL 1, ANDREWS BUILDING M.G. ROAD, BENGALURU-560 001 REPRESENTED BY ITS AUTHORISED SIGNATORY SRI SWAMY K.B. …PETITIONER (BY SRI ZULFIKIR KUMAR SHAFI, ADVOCATE) AND: 1. THE STATE OF KARNATAKA URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT 4TH FLOOR, VIKASA SOUDHA BENGALURU-560 001 REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY. 2. BRUHAT BENGALURU MAHANAGARA PALIKE N.R. SQUARE BENGALURU-560 002 REPRESENTED BY ITS COMMISSIONER. 3. THE JOINT DIRECTOR (TOWN PLANNING NORTH) BRUHATH BENGALURU MAHANAGARA PALIKE N.R. SQUARE, ANNEX BUILDING BENGALURU-560 002. 4. THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR VIKASA SOUDHA Digitally signed by SHARADAVANI B Location: High Court of Karnataka - 2 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:22827 WP No. 53 of 2021 DR. B.R. AMBEDKAR VEEDHI BENGALURU-560 001 REPRESENTED BY ITS UNDER SECRETARY. …RESPONDENTS (BY SRI BOPANNA B., AGA FOR R-1 AND R-4; SRI B.S. KARTHIKEYAN, ADVOCATE FOR R-2 AND R-3) * * * THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 AND 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, PRAYING TO SET ASIDE THE IMPUGNED DEMAND NOTICE DATED 21-10-2020 ISSUED BY RESPONDENT NO.3 CALLING UPON THE PETITIONER TO PAY AN AMOUNT OF 1) RS.3,97,395/- (RUPEES THREE LAKHS NINETY SEVEN THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND NINETY FIVE ONLY) TOWARDS SCRUTINY FEE, 2) RS.79,47,903/- (RUPEES SEVENTY NINE LAKHS FORTY SEVEN THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND THREE ONLY) TOWARDS LICENSE FEE, 3) RS.46,89,6262/- (RUPEES FORTY SIX LAKHS EIGHTY NINE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY TWO ONLY) TOWARDS GROUND RENT, 4) RS.58,91,918/- (RUPEES FIFTY EIGHT LAKHS NINETY ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN ONLY) TOWARDS BETTER CHARGES, 5) RS.7,20,325 (RUPEES SEVEN LAKHS TWENTY THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE ONLY) TOWARDS 1 PERCENT ADMINISTRATIVE CHARGES ON LABOUR CESS 6) RS.30,00,000/- (RUPEES THIRTY LAKH ONLY) TOWARDS LABOUR CESS PAYABLE TO KARNATAKA STATE BUILDING AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WELFARE BOARD AND SUM OF RS.90,25,583/- (RUPEES NINETY LAKHS TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THREE ONLY) TOWARDS WATER SUPPLY SCHEME RING ROAD, IMPROVING OF SOUMS, MRTS AS A PREREQUISITE CONDITION FOR ISSUANCE OF MODIFIED SANCTIONED PLAN FOR CONSTRUCTION OF RESIDENTIAL APARTMENT IN PROPERTY BEARING PROPERTY NO.1743/181C SY - 3 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:22827 WP No. 53 of 2021 NO.KAIKONDRAHALLI VILLAGE, VARTHUR HOBLI, WARD NO.150 BENGALURU EAST TALUK, BENGALURU AND ETC. THIS WRIT PETITION, COMING ON FOR ORDERS, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: CORAM: HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM ORAL ORDER The captioned petition is filed seeking the following reliefs: WHEREFORE, the Petitioner respectfully prays that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to: 1. Issue a writ of Certiorari to set aside the impugned demand notice dated 21.10.2020 bearing No. BBMP/Addl.Dir/JDNORTH/0299/11-12 issued by Respondent No.3, calling upon the Petitioner to pay an amount of 1) Rs.3,97,395/- (Rupees Three Lakhs Ninety Seven Thousand Three Hundred And Ninety Five Only) towards Scrutiny fee, 2)Rs.79,47,903/- (Rupees Seventy Nine Lakhs Forty Seven Thousand Nine Hundred And Three Only) towards License fee, 3)Rs.46,89,262/- (Rupees Forty Six Lakhs Eighty Nine Thousand Two Hundred And Sixty Two Only) towards Ground Rent, 4) Rs.58,91,918/- (Rupees Fifty Eight Lakhs Ninety One Thousand Nine Hundred And Eighteen Only) towards Better charges, 5)Rs.7,20,325/- ( Rupees Seven Lakhs Twenty Thousand Three Hundred And Twenty Five Only) towards 1% Administrative charges on Labour Cess 6) Rs.30,00,000/- (Rupees Thirty Lakh Only) towards Labour Cess payable to Karnataka State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board and sum of Rs.90,25,583/- (Rupees Ninety Lakhs Twenty Five Thousand Five Hundred And Eighty Three Only) towards water supply scheme ring road, improving of slums, MRTS as a prerequisite condition for issuance of modified sanctioned plan for construction of Residential Apartment in property bearing property No.1743/181C, Sy - 4 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:22827 WP No. 53 of 2021 No.KaiKondrahalli Village Varthur Hobli, Ward No.150 Benglauru East Taluk, Bengaluru. 2. Issue writ of Mandamus or Any other Writ of this nature, directing the Respondents to issue modified Plan sanction and license in respect of the petitioner project established in the subject land without insisting or demanding above payment and by collecting only legally tenable amounts as per the demand notice; and 3. Issue an order, direction or writ in the nature of Certiorari quashing the Notification issued by the Respondent No.2 bearing No. UDD 3 TPP 2015 dated February 25,2020 (Annexure-M) in so far as the inserted rules 37-A and 37-C are concerned. 4. Grant an order, direction or writ in the nature of Certiorari quashing the Government Order bearing No. LD/300/LET/2006 dtd.18.1.2007 vide Annexure-G and the corrigendum order bearing No. LD/300/LET/2006 dtd.28.2.2007 vide Annexure-H issued by the Respondent No.4 mandating upfront collection of labour welfare cess. 5. Declare that the Respondent Nos. 2 and 3 have no authority to collect the taxes under the guise of collection of license fee cess and other fees under various heads based on arbitrary rates and values; 6. Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the Respondent Nos. 2 and 3 to collect fees as specified in the Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Building Bye-Laws 2003 only; 7. And grant such other relief or reliefs as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit to grant, based on the facts and circumstances of the case in the interest of justice and equity. 2. It is brought to the notice of this Court that across the Bar, the issue is dealt by the Co-ordinate Bench in the - 5 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:22827 WP No. 53 of 2021 reported judgment in W.P.No.36017/2018 and connected matters. The Co-ordinate Bench, while deciding the issue, has held that the bye-laws under which Ground Rent, License Fee, Building License fee, Scrutiny fee are levied are ultra vires the Act. The Co-ordinate Bench also quashed the circular dated 04.09.2015 and Government circulars dated 27.01.2017 and 30.03.2017. Therefore, this Court deems it fit to cull out the operative portion of the order, which reads as under; "O R D E R (a) All the Writ Petitions are allowed. (b) The bye-laws under which Ground Rent, Licence Fee, Building Licence Fee, Scrutiny Fee, Security Deposit are all held ultravires the Act and are resultantly rendered unenforceable. (c) The Circular bearing No.ºÉ¤£ÀAiÉÆÃ/eÉ.r(G)/rJªÀiï3/¦Dgï/320/2015-16 dated 04.09.2015 stands quashed. (d) The Circular bearing No.£ÀCE 36 ¨ÉªÀÄ¥Áæ 2016 (¨sÁUÀ) dated 27.01.2017 and the Circular bearing No. - 6 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:22827 WP No. 53 of 2021 ºÉ¤£ÀAiÉÆÃ/¦Dgï/1533/2016-17 dated 30.03.2017 demanding Lake Rejuvenation Fee are quashed. (e) Imposition of labour cess under the Welfare Cess Act is upheld, but its demand for payment upfront in terms of Government Orders dated 18.01.2007 and 28.02.2007 stands quashed. (f) The State or the BBMP is not precluded from bringing in the impugned levies under the provisions of the Act or the Rules by making suitable amendments to the Act and the Rules. 368 (g) Petitioners in all these petitions who have deposited certain amounts in terms of the interim order passed by this Court before this Court are entitled to refund of the amounts so deposited. (h) Insofar as refund in other cases who have paid to the Corporation under protest, they shall be entitled to such refund only if the same is not collected from the consumers of the apartments, businesses as the case would be. (i) Insofar as all other payments made, they would all be at liberty to give representation to the - 7 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:22827 WP No. 53 of 2021 BBMP and the BBMP would consider the refund of the amounts, in accordance with law and the findings of this Court. (j) If representations are made by the petitioners for refund, the BBMP shall pass appropriate orders within 12 weeks from the date of such representations. In view of disposal of the petitions, all pending Interlocutory Applications also stand disposed." 3. In the considered view of this Court, the issues raised in the present writ petition stand squarely covered by the authoritative pronouncement rendered by the Co- ordinate Bench of this Court in W.P.No.36017/2018 and connected matters. The Co-ordinate Bench, after examining the statutory framework and the impugned levy mechanisms adopted by the BBMP, categorically held that the imposition of Ground Rent, Licence Fee, Building Licence Fee, Scrutiny Fee, and Security Deposit lacked statutory sanction and were ultra vires the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976. The Co-ordinate Bench - 8 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:22827 WP No. 53 of 2021 further held that Clause 3.8 of the BBMP Building Bye- laws, 2003, which provided for imposition of Ground Rent, was also devoid of legal authority and consequently struck it down. The Court also quashed the impugned Circular dated 04.09.2015 issued by respondent No.4, as well as the Government Orders dated 27.01.2017 and 30.03.2017, which had directed collection of such fees without statutory backing. With specific reference to labour welfare cess, the Co-ordinate Bench upheld the competence of the State to levy the cess under the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996, but set aside the directive mandating its upfront collection through Government Orders dated 18.01.2007 and 28.02.2007, thereby rendering the demand raised in anticipation of sanction of building plans unlawful. The Co-ordinate Bench also clarified that the only charging provision available under the Act was sub- section (20-b) of Section 423, which merely enabled collection of fees for services relating to burial grounds - 9 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:22827 WP No. 53 of 2021 and crematoria, and could not be relied upon for the imposition of unrelated charges such as ground rent or scrutiny fee. In light of these clear and binding findings, the controversy raised in the present writ petition does not survive for independent adjudication, as the grievance of the petitioner is directly addressed and resolved by the said judgment. Therefore, this Court is of the considered opinion that the present writ petition deserves to be allowed by applying the ratio and operative portion of the judgment rendered in W.P.No.36017/2018 and connected matters. 4. In view of the above, this Court proceeds to pass the following; ORDER (i) The writ petition is allowed. (ii) The impugned demand notice dated 21.10.2020 issued by respondent No.3 as per Annexure-A is hereby set-aside. - 10 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:22827 WP No. 53 of 2021 (iii) Respondent- BBMP is hereby directed to issue fresh/modified plan as the case may be. (iv) Respondent- BBMP is hereby directed to forthwith process the petitioner's application seeking building license and sanction of the building plan, strictly in accordance with law. (v) It is made clear that the issuance of the building license and approval plan shall not be withheld merely on the ground that the BBMP is contemplating to file an appeal against the reported judgment. (vi) If the building license and sanction plan are issued, the same shall be subjected to the outcome of any appeal that may be filed by the BBMP against the judgment. Pending applications, if any, are also disposed off. Sd/- (SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM) JUDGE HDK List No.: 2 Sl No.: 31