BENGALURU: The High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with the two petitions filed by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa challenging the two FIRs registered against him on charges of illegal denotification of land. Justice Arvind Kumar also issued notice to complainant Dr Aiyappa, a former vice-chancellor of a private university, before adjourning the hearing to Wednesday.
The ACB, on August 10 and 19, had registered the FIRs against Yeddyurappa for allegedly illegally denotifying land to the extent of 257 acres. During a brief hearing, the counsel for Yeddyurappa said there was no notification at all for acquisition of land and added that ACB registered multiple FIRs based on one complaint. According to the complaint, then chief minister Yeddyurappa passed 20 different orders to denotify 257 acres acquired for Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout in Bengaluru North taluk between 2009 and 2012.
The ACB, which has also arraigned four officials of the Urban Development Department and BDA as accused along with Yeddyurappa, had asked the BJP leader to appear before it on Saturday. The former CM sought 10 days time to appear but his request was not considered and he was asked to appear on Wednesday. Yeddyurappa contended that the chief minister is using ACB to target opposition leaders, especially him, as he was projected as the chief ministerial candidate. The FIRs were due to political vendetta, he claimed.