MYSURU: In a major setback to former chief minister Siddaramaiah, a special court in Bengaluru which deals with criminal cases related to elected representatives, on Friday ordered the police to register a criminal case against him in connection with an ‘illegal’ land deal.
Apart from Siddaramaiah, who is named as prime accused in the case, 10 others including sitting BJP MLA SA Ramdas, former MLC G Madhusudhan, serving and retired IAS and KAS cadre officials have been named as co-accused.
The designated court of the additional city civil and sessions judge, Bengaluru, has directed all the accused in the case (CNR No. KABCO 10184542019, Case No. PCR0000027/2019) to appear before it on September 23. A copy of the order is available with TNIE.
A Gangaraju, a social activist from Mysuru, had filed a Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) plea in the court of the principal senior civil judge and CJM at Mysuru in June last year alleging that Siddaramaiah, in connivance with the other accused, had purchased land and built a house in violation of MUDA rules at Hinkal (acquired for Vijayanagar extension) in the late 90s. Siddaramaiah had purchased 10 guntas of
agricultural land in Hinkal village (Survey No. 70/4) and the sale deed was executed in 1997.
The land was denotified later at the behest of Siddaramaiah, where he built a house of 120ftx75ft dimension, the petition said. Following a court order, the Lakshmipuram police had filed an FIR (0049/2018) under various IPC sections.
Land case transferred to special court in May
However, in November last year, the police filed a B-report, which was opposed by the complainant. Following this, the Mysuru court rejected the report and continued hearing the case. In May this year, the case was transferred to the special court in Bengaluru as the prime accused is a sitting MLA.
Now, the criminal case will be filed under IPC sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 197 (issuing/signing false certificate), 166 (disobeying law), 167 (framing incorrect document), 169 (unlawfully buying property), 200 (false declaration with intent), 417 (punishment for cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 468 (forgery).
The other accused are K S Chandre Gowda, retired secretary, Mysuru Urban Development Authority; S Murthy, special land acquisition officer, MUDA; Chikkananajaiah, ex-town planning officer; G Madusudhan former MLC; A Ramdas, MLA; Ajay Seth, principal secretary; Amitha Prasad, DG, national productivity council; D Rama Nayaka, joint director, Health and Family Welfare department; Rangaiah, ex-superintending engineer, MUDA; and G M Madegowda, Assistant Executive Engineer, KUWSSB, MUDA.