Mysore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act, 1998 Preamble 1 - Bare Act

THE MYSORE PALACE (ACQUISITIONAND TRANSFER) ACT, 1998¹

[Act, No. 32of 1998]

[28thAugust,1998]

PREAMBLE

An Act to provide for the acquisition and transfer of the MysorePalace and open space around it in the public interest and for its preservationand for matters connected therewith.

WHEREAS the Palace at Mysore popularly known as the MysorePalace, a unique historical, architectural and cultural heritage of Karnatakain particular and of the nation in general, with its immediate surroundings,including the open space, park and the garden around it, the Royal Treasureincluding the Royal Thrones, Royal Crowns, the Howdah, Royal Wears andornaments and all other pieces of art, regalia, paintings, sculptures andfurniture, is required for maintaining its public character; for preserving itsidentity as centre of the Dasara Festivity in Karnataka renowed world wide forits cultural heritage and as a monument in its own Majesty and splendour; fordeveloping it as an exclusive Museum of Royal treasure, paintings and pieces ofArt and architecture; and to preserve the park and garden and to develop theopen space as a horticultural garden, to serve the public purpose and thereforeto provide for its acquisition and transfer by law;

WHEREAS, the competent authority under the Urban Land(Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 has held that the Mysore Palace andsurrounding land came within the regulation of the said Act and has passed anorder declaring substantial portion of the land surrounding the Mysore Palaceas surplus land to be surrendered to the State Government and the said order isupheld in appeal before the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal;

WHEREAS, the legal representatives and heirs of lateJayachamarajendra Wadeyar have in some writ petitions questioned the legalityof the order passed by the Appellate Authority and these writ petitions arepending before the High Court of Karnataka;

WHEREAS, the legal representatives and heirs of lateJayachamarajendra Wadeyar had in their letters dated 18.8.75, 3.9.75, 7.2.76and 10.2.76 requested the State Government to take over the possession of thePalace other than the portion of the palace in which they are residing andaccordingly the State Government took possession of the portion of palace atMysore with movables by issuing a Government Order No.GAD 2 PSR 76, dated26.2.76 and has thereafter spent considerable amounts for maintenance of thePalace as a Public monument and for preserving its public character as it wasalso the desire of Late Jayachamarajendra Wadeyar that the Mysore Palace andthe royal treasure, jewellery and other articles should be maintained forpublic purpose, and one of the heirs in a writ petition questioned the legalityof the order of the State Government and the writ petition was allowed by theHigh Court of Karnataka and an appeal filed against it in the Supreme Court bythe State Government has come to be dismissed on twenty-first April, 1998;

WHEREAS, preliminary notifications under section 4 of theLand Acquisition Act, 1894,for acquisition of land surrounding the Palace underNo.LAQ/SR/51/86-87, dt.1-7-1986, were issued and some of the legalrepresentatives and heirs of late Jayachamarajendra Wadeyar had questioned thesame by filing writ petitions in the High Court of Karnataka and the High Courthad stayed all proceedings and now these writ petitions have been withdrawn;

WHEREAS, for the purposes herein before stated, it isexpedient to provide, for the acquisition and transfer of the Mysore Palaceincluding the park, garden and open space around it, the Royal Treasureincluding the Royal Thrones, Royal Crowns, Royal Wears, the Howdah andornaments and all other pieces of art, regalia, paintings, sculptures andfurniture belonging to or found in the palace, by appropriate legislationdifferent from the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and to makeprovision for determining the amount payable in respect of the entire holdinghaving regard to the final decision in the aforesaid writ petitions in whichthe orders passed under the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 arechallenged;

BE it enacted by the Karnataka State Legislature inthe forty-nineth year of the Republic of India as follows:-

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1.FirstPublished in the Karnataka Gazette Extraordinary on the Thirtieth day ofNovember, 1998.