BENGALURU: A special court in the city has issued summons to JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy, to appear before the court on October 4 in relation to an illegal land denotification case, allegedly for personal gain, when he was Chief Minister. The court, established to deal with criminal cases related to elected MLAs/MPs, also issued summons to 18 others, accused along with Kumaraswamy.
Noting that no sanction was necessary to prosecute the accused, Judge Ramachandra D Huddar passed an order to register criminal cases against all 19 for offences punishable under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act as well as the Karnataka Land (Restriction and Transfer) Act, 1991.
“On reading of the complaint, as well as the sworn statement and documentary evidence at this stage, the complainant has made out a prima facie case, so as to issue process against accused persons”, the judge noted.
Complainant M Mahadeva Swamy, a resident of Santhemarahalli in Chamarajanagar district, alleged that Kumaraswamy denotified two different portions of land acquired by the BDA measuring 1.10 acres and 1.14 acres during his tenure as Chief Minister between June 3, 2006 and October 8, 2007. The denotification order was issued on October 3, 2007.
Later, a sale deed showed earnings in crores of rupees, the complainant said. The plots are located at Halagevaderahalli near Kengeri and were part of huge lands acquired for the formation of BSK 5th Stage Layout by the BDA in 1999.
According to the complainant, the lands in question were sold for Rs. 43.75 lakh and Rs. 47.25 lakh in favour of KB Shanthamma and Rekha S Chandru in 2004. They, in turn, sold the lands for Rs. 4.14 crores in 2010 to nine persons who then entered into an agreement with four builders. Earlier, the Special Court had rejected the ‘B’ report filed by the police on hearing the protest petition filed by the complainant on July 20, 2019.