BENGALURU: The entire Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout project was abandoned ultimately because of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, the Anti-Corruption Bureau told the High Court on Wednesday.
During the hearing before Justice Aravind Kumar on a petition filed by Yeddyurappa challenging two FIRs registered against him, the ACB counsel termed Yeddyurappa’s actions as completely ‘stage managed.’
Pointing out the modus operandi adopted in denotification of land acquired for the layout, he cited the example of an application submitted by one Asha Pardeshi directly to Yeddyurappa seeking denotification of certain extent of land. The counsel said the ACB was so far unable to trace the said applicant. Similarly, 20 such applications were recommended by the former chief minister to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to drop parcels of land from the final notification.
The counsel added that the interim inquiry conducted by a committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary revealed many irregularities and also confirmed the endorsement issued by BDA agreeing to consider the applications recommended by former chief minister. Strangely, only officials were indicted in the inquiry report but not Yeddyurappa who is the root cause of the issue, he said.
The counsel also opposed the grant of interim stay on the investigation. He also pointed out that the accused never claimed he was innocent in the petition challenging the FIRs. The hearing was adjourned to Thursday.
The ACB registered two FIRs against Yeddyurappa for allegedly recommending the BDA to drop 257 acres acquired for Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout from the final notification.