3 booked for demolishing part of 93-year-old Bengaluru school over property dispute

According to the FIR, Harry, Elizabeth, and Jabi broke into the school using a JCB and assaulted security officials Karthik and Murali and threatened to kill them.

The police said that the outcome of Friday evening’s events is linked to a 25-year-old property dispute between Elizabeth and the school management. “Elizabeth claims that a portion of the school campus belongs to her while the school management always maintained that they purchased the 10 acre property from the municipal corporation. Elizabeth, whose great grandfather served in the defence, claims that the property was given to her by the government. Currently, the property dispute is under judicial review before the Karnataka High Court,” said a police official.

Anuradha K P, assistant secretary of the institution, said the school management has received a temporary injunction order from the High Court in 2023 against any claims to the property.

“The matter is sub-judice and we want to sort out the property dispute legally. A group of people have now occupied the performing arts building where students practice art, music and dance. With trespassers now occupying a portion of the school campus, the students will feel unsafe. Fortunately, students were not on campus on Friday as they were out on a field trip,” said Anuradha.

She added that this is the third such attempt by Elizabeth and her group to forcefully trespass the campus, despite the injunction order from the court.

The SKEI was founded in 1931 by V S Thiruvendaswamy Mudaliar. Mudaliar wanted to build a “sacred place from which girls and boys shall take the highest aspirations to lead better, grander and fulfilling lives”. The school was established by the founders of the VST Group, which is now a 110-year-old business conglomerate with premium automobile dealerships, finance, and real estate business. It is also a leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery.