Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday inaugurated two special courts set up exclusively to try land encroachment cases, at Kandaya Bhavan here. These courts will have State-wide jurisdiction.

According to Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs T.B. Jayachandra, those convicted by the special courts will be punished for a term not less than one year, and this may be extended up to three years and a fine of up to Rs. 25,000.

Seeking stringent punishment for those who grab public land, Mr. Siddaramaiah favoured punishment for officials who facilitated realtors in encroaching government land.

Encroachment cleared

He said that of the 34,000 acres of government land encroached in Bengaluru City and Rural districts, encroachment on over 15,000 acre had been cleared. Though there were laws to punish land-grabbers, they had failed in stopping them. This forced the government to constitute special courts, the Chief Minister said.