BENGALURU: In a major setback to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday set aside an order passed by the Lokayukta Special Court, dismissing a private complaint filed against them with regard to denotification of land acquired by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB).
This apart, the high court ordered the special court to proceed with the trial in terms of the chargesheet filed by the Lokayukta police in May 2012. As far as the B-report filed by the Lokayukta police in this case with regard to nine other accused, the high court directed the special court follow guidelines issued by the Supreme Court. Justice John Michael Cunha passed the order to that effect on a petition filed by Alam Pasha.
‘BSY misused his position’
The Lokayukta police had filed a chargesheet against them after conducting an investigation based on a private complaint filed by industrialist Alam Pasha. As per the Lokayukta police investigation, Yediyurappa and Naidu, the then industries minister, had denotified around 24 acres of land at Hoovinayakanahalli in Bengaluru North taluk and Makanakuppe village in Nelamangala taluk. Due to this, they have misused their official positions and caused loss to the state’s exchequer by waiving service charges and development fee, the Lokayukta police contended.
The special court, on July 25, 2016, had dismissed Alam Pasha’s complaint. Pasha approached the high court against this order. Sources said the CM is likely to move the Supreme Court questioning the legality of the high court’s order.