B'lore palace issue: Royals seek out-of-court settlement

Bangalore, Mar 23: Far from the regal comforts that they once enjoyed, the female descendants of the erstwhile princely State of Mysore are now facing acute financial problems, to overcome which they appealed to Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to resolve the dispute over Bangalore palace out-of-court, today (Mar 23, 2006).

Addressing a joint press conference here, the three daughters and a grand-daughters of late Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, the architect of modern Mysore, said they jointly owned 140 acres of prime land around Bangalore palace, bequeathed upon them as a share of the family property.

Stating that the State Government had acquired the land through a special act in 1996 and the case was pending before the Supreme court, Princesses Kamakshi Devi, Indrakshi Devi, Visalakshi Devi and daughters of Gayathri Devi said they had decided to go in for an out-of-court settlement as the matter remained sub-judice for years.

When they met Mr Kumaraswamy in this regard, he had responded positively and promised to consider their plea, they added.

Princess Visalakshi Devi said they had submitted a proposal to the State Government to build a memorial for the late Maharaja in their land, besides constructing a state-of-the-art World Trade Centre in the prime land.

She said they had even agreed to surrender a portion of the land to the State Government and allow any building project in private-public partnership. She exuded confidence that the new JD(S)-BJP Government in the State would take a positive decision.

UNI