Bengaluru: The one-man Commission headed by Justice H.S. Kempanna, which probed into alleged illegal de-notification of Arkavathy Layout case, is said to have given clean chit to Chief Minister Siddharamaiah. The report was submitted by Justice Kempanna to State Chief Secretary Subhash Chandra Khuntia here yesterday.
After submitting a 1,861 page report, Justice Kempanna said that he had completed his task of studying all aspects of the complaints received related to the alleged irregularities in the development of Arkavathy Layout and added that it was up to the Government to decide the future course of action.
Chief Secretary Khuntia, who refused to comment on the report, said that it would be tabled in the State Legislature. Sources added that the report was expected to be tabled during the winter session of State Legislature at Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi.
Though the report had to be submitted within six months, Justice Kempanna had sought more time stating that it wouldn’t be possible for him to study the documents and submit a report in a short time. Hence, four months additional time was given by the State Government. The probe was also extended as BDA took time to submit the related document to the Commission.
The report is said to have attributed the alleged irregularities to lapses on the part of some middle and lower rung officials of Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) and Urban Development Department, according to sources, which also said that the report has also indicted several Land Acquisition Officers of BDA from 2010 to 2014 along with a few Urban Development Department officials for allegedly dropping notified land from acquisition. The Commission probed whether orders of Courts were violated during the de-notification of 983 acres of land since February 2004.
The Commission was formed in August 2014 with the Opposition BJP accusing CM Siddharamaiah of de-notifying 541 acres of land for monetary benefits in Arkavathy Layout. The BJP demanded for a CBI probe into the case. But, the CM, rejecting the Opposition demand, accused the successive Governments and Chief Ministers, including three from BJP, for de-notifying the land.
He had claimed that his Government had only issued ‘re-modification orders’ as per the six guidelines laid down by the Karnataka High Court.
This post was published on August 24, 2017 6:46 pm