Bengaluru: First it was Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself and now it is his son’s business partner, who is being targeted in a complaint before the Anti-Corruption Bureau(ACB), he set up amidst charges of diluting the institution of the Lokayukta to protect the corrupt in his administration.
The complaint has been filed by the Ambedkar Yuva Sene demanding investigation by the ACB into a land deal involving Dr Rajesh Gowda, a partner in the firm that plans to run a medical laboratory in Victoria Hospital, with the Chief Minister's son, Dr Yatindra Siddaramaiah.
President of the Sene, H Kodanandaram, has in his complaint of April 13 to ACB deputy superintendent of police, Abdul Qadir, alleged that Dr Gowda was allotted land that he was not entitled to under the law by top BDA officials. The case goes back to the acquisition of land in survey numbers 174 and 175 in Kethumarahanahalli village, Mahalakshmi Layout, by the BDA from Shantha Industrial Enterprises in 1977.
The company's later owners, however challenged the acquisition in court contending that the land had been bought in auction and the BDA had therefore no right to acquire it without prior permission.
Although the previous owner of Shantha Industrial Enterprises had given a letter to the BDA in 1975 agreeing to the acquisition against payment of compensation, trouble began once it was bought over by former Chitradurga Member of Parliament, C P Moodalagiriyappa, his son, Dr Rajesh Gowda and two others, the complaint said.
After a long legal battle, the legal cell of the BDA informed a court in 2012 that it had the right to acquire the land in question as no law prevented either the state government or any other competent authority like the BDA from doing so. Besides, there was no violation of the Company Law either in the matter, it said.
Although the BDA's legal cell advised it against entertaining an application by Shantha Industrial Enterprises for allotment of alternative land, the BDA board gave the commissioner the authority to take a decision in the matter after consulting a retired judge of the Supreme Court.
On the judge's alleged advice, the commissioner ordered officials to identify 1,23,257 sq ft of land for allotment to the company. Accordingly 28.75 guntas in Banasavadi and 32.87 guntas in HBR Layout were given to it, but the allotment was cancelled on January 8, 2015 due to legal hassles. Later, two acres in survey number 94 in BTM sixth stage were given to the company, but this too was cancelled for the same reason, the complaint claimed. Finally, 2.19 acres adjacent to Hebbal Flyover were given to the company on January 29, 2016, it said.
“The involvement of senior officials of the BDA is evident,” Mr Kodandaram claimed in the complaint, urging the ACB to investigate the matter and see that the guilty are punished.
