Trio that had fought against masterplan violations and neighbourhood eatery are slapped notices to ‘reply within three days’ or else...An RTI application is filed on February 10 seeking information on properties owned by three residents of Koramangala III Block who have been at the forefront of giving their locality a semblance of civic governance. Within a month, on March 7 to be precise, three residents – Nitin Seshadri, C K Ramanatha (father of one of the activists) and a 70-year-old woman – are served notice by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) with threats that their properties will be considered ‘‘unauthorised if documents are not submitted within three days’’.Weigh this against a campaign that the residents, especially the trio, have been carrying against deviations in the masterplan and against an upscale eatery called 154 Breakfast Club, on 8th Main in Koramangala III Block, for functioning allegedly in violation of zoning regulations in the residential area. The sanction for the eatery to run was given by none other than the BBMP chief M Lakshminarayana (by noting on the file to the zonal health officer: ‘‘Please help in getting trade licence’’), without addressing the concerns of the local residents. 154 Breakfast Club is owned by Pranav Pai, son of former Infoscion Mohandas Pai who is a B.Pac vice-president, his friend Nishyarth Prasad and Anil Shetty, a B.Pac member. Bangalore Mirror had scooped the issue in its edition dated February 1 under the headline: Is B.Pac watching? BBMP can be had for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Bangalore Mirror is not at all suggesting that the 154 Breakfast Club issue is behind the witch-hunt, but the sequence is definitely food, more like a morning snack, for thought.Within a few days of the BM article, an RTI application is filed with the assistant executive engineer of Koramangala by a resident, A V Ganesh Prasad of the adjacent Shinivagalu Tank Bed area, asking for property documents and sanctioned plan of the three residents. When contacted, Prasad told Bangalore Mirror that he is no way concerned with the restaurant or the management but had – no disputing this – all the rights to seek any information through Right to Information Act. ‘‘I want to see whether their construction has any violation or not,’’ he said. But why these three? He says he is well within his rights to choose whoever he wants to for seeking information on.The three residents have been residing in the properties for periods ranging from 10 years to 39 years, but the BBMP, in what looks like a clear case of witch-hunt, has gone after them with a vigour that should be reserved for blatant violations like, say, encroachments on lakebeds or pavements.Nitin Seshadri confirmed he has received a notice. He said, ``We are shocked at these tactics. It’s an attempt to cow down voices of the community through veiled intimidation.’’ The residents are seeking a legal opinion on the issue. ``Section 308 of KMC Act under which notices have been issued is not applicable unless there is a prima-facie case. BBMP is the custodian of the building plans, why don’t they fish it out? In fact we have been demanding information under the same section from Breakfast Club but the same engineer has not obliged. Now, a random guy files an RTI application and notices are dashed off to us,’’ added Nitin.Seshadri has been living in the area since nearly 15 years and his house plan has been sanctioned by the erstwhile BCC east zone. C K Ramanatha, a resident since 1976, is father of another activist, R Vishwanath, and has been served the notice since the house is in his name. ``In fact, our building plan was approved by the City Improvement Trust Board and at that time, there was no BBMP or BDA,’’ says Vishwanath. The 70-year-old woman is a resident of house number 55 for at least 10 years who is the immediate neighbour of number 154 Breakfast Club on 8th Main, Kormangala III Block.The notices issued through registered post to these three property owners last Saturday read: ``With reference to the above, you are hereby instructed to submit the sanctioned plan and relevant documents of the building, which is constructed in the above mentioned address, for verification to the undersigned within three days from the date of receipt of this letter. Failing which the constructed building will be considered as unauthorised and action will be initiated as per section 308 of Karnataka Municipal Act of 1976. Please Note.”The last sentence is the catch – a veiled threat given to the residents. Irony is that lakhs of buildings in the city are unauthorised and the BBMP does not raise a finger while three residents fighting for a cause are threatened with dire consequences.Assistant executive engineer S H Pujari said, ``We do not have the sanctioned plan copies of the above said properties. As these are old properties and somebody had filed RTI seeking the documents, I issued notices under section 308 to furnish the plan copies. The residents are fighting for the good cause. I do not feel that they have done any violations during constructions, but only the drawings will confirm that.’’Interestingly, when he was questioned about the issue on Twitter, Mohandas Pai responded, stating: “Nope, do not know it. Please do not believe such fairy tales. BBMP cannot threaten any citizen. There is rule of law here.” Maybe, B.Pac could take up the issue with the authorities and come to the rescue of the hapless activists.