BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court quashed the allotment of site to a Trust headed by the wife of BJP MP Umesh G Jadhav and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) for handing over the plot worth Rs 10 crore at a meagre sum of Rs 22 lakh.
Directing the KHB to take possession of the site, a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum directed the state government to conduct a fact-finding inquiry in the matter. In case officers are found guilty, the KHB should take appropriate action to hold departmental enquiry against them and recover the cost. This exercise should be completed within 6 months, the court added.
Allowing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Adinarayanashetty, a resident of Koramangala, against the allotment of site to Murthy Charitable Trust, represented by its president Gayathri, wife of MP Jadhav, the court said that the records show that the conditional sale deed dated August 23, 2004 was not complied with. The KHB has issued another sale deed in 2020 without adhering to allotment regulations, the court added.
During the hearing, advocate H Sunil Kumar, representing the petitioner, vehemently argued that Trust was was favoured by KHB because the president and the act of the officials caused loss to the state’s exchequer.
The KHB has executed an absolute sale deed in favour of Trust on July 23, 2020 for a sum of Rs 21.87 lakh, including Rs 3.87 lakh paid for allotment of site in 2004. Despite all this, the condition of sale was violated by the Trust by not constructing the building within two years for educational purpose.