A day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was accused of “moral responsibility’’ for allowing the sale of Bangalore Development Authority land at throw-away prices to its employees’ association, the government set aside the sale.
On Monday, RTI activist B M Shiv Kumar accused Siddaramaiah of allowing the sale of 2.35 acres in Banashankari V Phase to the BDA Employees’ Welfare Association for a mere Rs 8.6 lakh against its estimated market value of more than Rs100 crore.
The Chief Minister summoned BDA commissioner T Sham Bhatt immediately after the activist’s press conference to debate the matter.
Bhatt said, “We have decided to cancel the sale and place the proposal before a panel to determine the price of the land, if it has to be sold to the association.’’
Kumar had alleged that the BDA had sold land to the association at Rs 6.87 per square foot, 800 times lower than the present market value on June 4 with the authorisation of the Chief Minister.
According to Kumar, one square foot of land at Banashankari V Phase costs around Rs 6,000.
BDA officials had said that the sale of the land was finalised much earlier and was only being executed now.