Bengaluru: The ruling Congress in Karnataka on Thursday asked the Lokayukta to expedite its probe against former chief ministers B S Yediyurappa and H D Kumaraswamy in connection with the alleged denotification of land here.
Ministers Krishna Byre Gowda, Dinesh Gundu Rao and Santhosh Lad held a joint press conference and released documents on denotification of 1.11 acres of land at Gangenahalli in Kasaba Hobli in north Bengaluru.
This land was acquired by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to form a layout in 1976, and its acquisition process was completed in 1977, Gowda said.
Alleging that a 'benami' named Rajashekharaiah, "who has nothing to do with the land", filed a petition when Kumaraswamy was the chief minister in 2007, seeking denotification of the land, which was acquired 30 years ago, Kumaraswamy said He had then asked the officials to move the file in this regard.
Meanwhile, the original owner of the said land had 21 heirs, who gave general power of attorney to Kumaraswamy's mother-in-law, Gowda alleged.
Further pointing out that when Yediyurappa was CM in 2010, despite the then principal secretary of the urban development department, K Jothiramalingam, pointing out on record that it was not a suitable case for denotification, the former ordered denotification, Gowda claimed.
"Subsequently, after denotification of the land in June 2010, it was registered in the name of Kumaraswamy's brother-in-law Channappa in July that year."
The land, which cost several crores, belonged to BDA and should have been used for the poor, he claimed, asking, "Is it not a systematic fraud?"
The High Court imposed a fine of Rs 25,000, while dismissing Yediyurappa's plea challenging the Lokayukta's probe in this case, Dinesh Gundu Rao said, adding that the court had allowed the Lokayukta to go ahead with its probe in 2021.
"There has been a delay...Lokayukta must take this seriously...If an inquiry is carried out, both Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa will be nabbed," he said.
Ministers Krishna Byre Gowda, Dinesh Gundu Rao and Santhosh Lad held a joint press conference and released documents on denotification of 1.11 acres of land at Gangenahalli in Kasaba Hobli in north Bengaluru.
This land was acquired by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to form a layout in 1976, and its acquisition process was completed in 1977, Gowda said.
Alleging that a 'benami' named Rajashekharaiah, "who has nothing to do with the land", filed a petition when Kumaraswamy was the chief minister in 2007, seeking denotification of the land, which was acquired 30 years ago, Kumaraswamy said He had then asked the officials to move the file in this regard.
Meanwhile, the original owner of the said land had 21 heirs, who gave general power of attorney to Kumaraswamy's mother-in-law, Gowda alleged.
Further pointing out that when Yediyurappa was CM in 2010, despite the then principal secretary of the urban development department, K Jothiramalingam, pointing out on record that it was not a suitable case for denotification, the former ordered denotification, Gowda claimed.
"Subsequently, after denotification of the land in June 2010, it was registered in the name of Kumaraswamy's brother-in-law Channappa in July that year."
The land, which cost several crores, belonged to BDA and should have been used for the poor, he claimed, asking, "Is it not a systematic fraud?"
The High Court imposed a fine of Rs 25,000, while dismissing Yediyurappa's plea challenging the Lokayukta's probe in this case, Dinesh Gundu Rao said, adding that the court had allowed the Lokayukta to go ahead with its probe in 2021.
"There has been a delay...Lokayukta must take this seriously...If an inquiry is carried out, both Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa will be nabbed," he said.
