Bengaluru: With the Lokayukta Justice Bhaskar Rao directing the Lokayukta City police to register cases of alleged corruption and violating the law against those involved in the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) land denotification scam between 2007 and 2012, former chief ministers B.S. Yeddyurappa of the BJP and H.D Kumaraswamy of the JD (S) will be back in the dock.
The Lokayukta direction to the police is based on the damaging report of the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) on denotification of land between 2007 and '12, the petition filed by the RTI activist Jayakumar Hiremath before the High Court and the Lokayukta and the findings of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
According to official sources, Justice Rao on Wednesday directed the Lokayukta police to take action against those involved in the denotification scam in the said period after the CID, to which the Lokayukta had referred the matter for inquiry/investigation confirmed that there was enough evidence of corruption and misuse of office by elected representatives and officers in several cases of land denotification by the BDA.
The CAG report (3) of 2012 rapped both the Yeddyurappa and Kumaraswamy governments, for “rampant” illegal denotification of land, benefiting builders and companies during 2007-11. Mr. Kumaraswamy served as chief minister from February 4, 2006 to October 9, 2007 in the JD(S)-BJP coalition government while Mr. Yeddyurappa was CM from May 30, 2008 to July 31, 2011.
“During 2007-11, the government denotified 123 acres and 15.5 guntas (one gunta is about 1,086 sq ft) after taking possession and another 89 acres and 23.5 guntas of land after notifying the fact of taking possession," the report stated.
The CAG report had indicted the two CMs for denotifying 212 acres and 39 guntas during 2007-11 in "defiance of law," and had not been referred to the Denotification Committee.
"These denotifications defied law and had been done after land had been duly taken possession of even while many cases challenging the acquisition process had been pending in the courts," stated the audit report, which was conducted in 2012 and had covered the 2007-12 period.
