BENGALURU: An imposter has managed to hoodwink the Karnataka High Court on four separate occasions and even got the judges to impose costs and make critical remarks against the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB).
The high court, on being informed about the imposter, has taken cognizance and issued a notice to the imposter.
It all started with KIADB acquiring an eight-acre parcel of land, whose real owner is Harendranath Singh and the imposter is Hari Singh. Harendranath Singh (88) is a dairy scientist who has been running pillar to post after having made multiple representations to KIADB. He is the owner of eight acres of agricultural land in Singahalli village, Jala hobli, Devanahalli taluk.
In July 2008, KIADB acquired the land for various developmental works, and curiously, the octogenarian never received any statutory notice of such acquisition proceedings. He was informed by a well-wisher that an impostor with a similar name had filed claims, seeking compensation for the acquired land. In July 2022, the real Harendranath Singh wrote to KIADB, requesting that the disbursement of compensation in favour of the impostor be halted until the issue of his rights was adjudicated. He also sought a personal hearing, and offered to put up for verification all the property documents in his possession.
Harendranath Singh submitted all important documents for scrutiny, then filed an FIR before Visveshwarapuram police station. Police took up an investigation into the actions of people named in the FIR, and during the investigation, imposter Hari Singh confessed to forgery and impersonation, in his statement recorded under Section 164 CrPC. VV Puram police filed a chargesheet against the impersonator, Hari Singh. He had maintained that he was Harendranath Singh. Upon verification, it was found otherwise.
It has come to light that the impostor managed to cheat the court on various occasions and had filed a writ petition before the high court, whereby the court had directed KIADB to refer to the KIADB Act in the civil court and deposit the amount awarded as compensation. This was dismissed by the Karnataka High Court, upholding the order of the single judge of the court. The impostor filed another writ petition before the High Court, which disposed of it.
Hari Singh also filed a contempt petition, following which KIADB filed a compliance affidavit reporting that the compensation amount was deposited in civil court, and since it was done belatedly, the HC while disposing of the petition, imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on KIADB. The impostor again approached the HC and obtained an order wherein the court set aside the general award and urged the real petitioner to seek relief. The agricultural land has now become the aerospace park. Irrigation Minister MB Patil said he is taking action against touts in KIADB, and the officers were spoken to and directed to follow court orders, to ensure justice to the octogenarian.