BENGALURU: The High Court on Wednesday asked the nine BBMP officials against whom an FIR has been registered for allegedly permitting unauthorised constructions on storm water drains (SWDs) to appear before the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) Police on Thursday.
At the same time, the state government gave an undertaking that the accused will not be arrested. After hearing the officials’ petitions challenging the FIR, Justice Anand Byrareddy asked the state to file its objections within a week.
The accused officials are M L Munikrishna, a retired chief engineer, P Gangappa, assistant director, Town Planning, H Sunitha, assistant engineer, Town Planning, Mahadevapura Zone, M Liyakath, assistant director, Town Planning, Dasarahalli Zone, BBMP, M V Guruprasad, assistant engineer, Town Planning, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, B T Mohan Krishna, R V Govindaraj, R K Shashidhar and Chowde Gowda.
The FIR was registered by BMTF on the charge that the officials had sanctioned a plan to develop Shubh Enclave, a layout encroaching upon an SWD on Survey No.57, Kasavanahalli in Bengaluru East taluk.
Advocate M S Bhagwat, representing the accused, said the plan for Shubh Enclave was sanctioned in 2012 and the complaint was filed on August 6, 2016, well beyond the time limit of six moths to file such complaints.
He added that the criminal action by the state was selective as the predecessors and the successors of the accused have not been subjected to criminal prosecution.
BBMP registered a case against 20 officials including the petitioners with the BMTF for ignoring the buffer zone while sanctioning plans for residential properties in Shubh Enclave between Kasavanahalli and Kaikondanahalli lakes.