A six-metre road margin, not the 25-metre highway setback, applies to Gramathana roads.

The petitioners filed a public-interest writ petition under Articles 226 and 227, alleging that respondents 9–11 were constructing a temple on private property without maintaining the 25-metre road margin said to be required by the Karnataka Government circular dated 30 June 2022.

They sought to restrain construction, require the authorities to measure the road and enforce the circular, and consider their representations.

The State produced a Government Order dated 6 July 2026 upgrading eight Maddur Taluk village roads to Major District Roads, a sketch, and a PWD communication dated 19 May 2026.

The State’s position was that the temple site was on a Gramathana road and that a six-metre margin from the road edge applied.

1. Whether the petitioners established that the 25-metre road margin under the 30 June 2022 circular applied to the road adjoining the temple site.

2. Whether the Court should issue writs restraining construction or directing the authorities to enforce the 25-metre margin and remove any construction within it.

The petition invoked the High Court’s writ jurisdiction under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution and relied on the Government circular dated 30 June 2022, which the petitioners said required a 25-metre margin from the centre of the relevant road.

In disposing of the petition, the Court proceeded on the basis of the PWD communication that, for roads passing through Gramathana, a six-metre margin was to be maintained from the edge of the road; any violation was for the jurisdictional Panchayat to address.

The Court considered the State’s materials, including the road sketch and the PWD communication.

It accepted that the temple was being constructed on Gramathana land and that the road-margin requirement identified by the PWD was six metres from the road edge, rather than the 25-metre margin asserted by the petitioners.

The Court therefore left the factual compliance question to the Panchayat Development Officer, with any enforcement action to be taken by the jurisdictional Panchayat if an inspection disclosed a violation.

It disposed of the petition, directing the Panchayat Development Officer to inspect whether the temple was being constructed at least six metres from the edge of the road and leaving any necessary action in the event of a violation to the jurisdictional Panchayat.