BANGALORE: The Karnataka Lokayukta continues to unleash its whip on the political leaders of the state. Former chief minister and JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy recently came on the firing line of the Lokayukta when it chargesheeted him for illegal denotification of government land. However, he got a breather from the Karnataka High Court on Friday when it granted him interim bail for six weeks.
The other co-accused in the case are former forest minister C Chennigappa and the two erstwhile owners of the land A V Raviprakash and A V Sriram.
The accused have been charged under various IPC sections, including 420 (cheating), 120(b) (criminal conspiracy) and Prevention of Corruption Act.
Meanwhile, Lokayukta Judge N K Sudhindra Rao has posted the case to April 21 for orders. The complaint had been filed by M S Mahadevaswamy, a social activist on January 2, this year, following which the Lokayukta Court ordered an investigation by the Lokayukta Police and an FIR was filed subsequently.
The other leaders who are facing the heat of the state Lokayukta are former Congress chief minister N Dharam Singh and former minister H D Revanna, son of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda. The Lokayukta Court ordered a probe against them on a complaint of irregularities in land denotification in Uttarahalli, Bangalore South.
Justice N K Sudheendra Rao directed the Lokayukta Police to probe the private complaint filed by BJP Yuva Morcha, member secretary Ravi Kumar and submit a report by May 21. Besides, Kavita Balakrishna, sister-in-law of Revanna, has also been named in the complaint.
The complaint has been referred to the Superintendent of Police of Lokayukta Bangalore Urban, under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Dharam Singh has been accused of denotifying 10 acres and 17 guntas (1 gunta = 121 square yards) of land in Uttarahalli, Bangalore South, without considering the objections of the Urban Development Department and without placing the matter before the denotification committee. A part of the land was sold to Kavitha Balakrishna Gowda.
Kavita bought two acres and 20 guntas of land at `50 lakh. She then sold it to Sobha Developers at `4 crore. The current value of the land is estimated to be around `20 crore.