Denotification scam: ACB summons Yeddyurappa for questioning, BSY asks for 10-day relief

The ACB notice comes just a day after Yeddyurappa was booked for irregularities in denotifying BDA land. The ACB as granted him two days time.
Denotification scam: ACB summons Yeddyurappa for questioning, BSY asks for 10-day relief
Denotification scam: ACB summons Yeddyurappa for questioning, BSY asks for 10-day relief
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Former Chief Minister and BJP state President BS Yeddyurappa finds himself in a soup once again. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has issued him a notice to appear before it for questioning on Saturday.

The ACB notice comes just a day after Yeddyurappa was booked by the ACB for irregularities in denotifying BDA land.

The BJP leader received summons on Friday. 

Meanwhile, party workers protested at Freedom Park demanding the arrest of Energy Minister DK Shivakumar and Small Scale Industries Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi who have come under the I-T scanner.

Yeddyurappa even went on to claim that the FIRs registered against him by the ACB were a strategy adopted by the Congress to hit back at the BJP for conducting I-T raids on Shivakumar.

However, Yeddyurappa responded to the ACB summons, saying he will not be able to appear before the ACB for questioning and has requested 10 days time to “gather all the facts”.

In his letter, the BJP leader has asked the ACB for more time to go through the “documents mentioned in the preliminary report”.

“You have caused a Notice referred above calling upon me to appear before you on 19/08/2017. Only two days period is intervening from the date of the Notice to the date of appearance. Upon my request, you have furnished the copies of the complaint & FIR along with the preliminary enquiry report to me yesterday. In the preliminary enquiry report, several documents have been mentioned. None of the documents have been furnished to me,” his letter states.

The letter further states that he is in the process of obtaining necessary details pertaining to the case from various government departments under the RTI Act.

“I therefore request you to provide me 10-days time to gather all facts and appear before you so that I will be in a position to answer all questions that may arise in connection with the investigation of the above case,” the letter states.

Yeddyurappa's laywers visited the ACB office in Bengaluru on Saturday. They submitted the letter signed by Yeddyurappa. However, the ACB has granted the BJP leader only two days time to appear for questioning.

Background

The Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) had acquired denotified lands to construct the Shivarama Karanth Layout during Yeddyurappa’s tenure as the Chief Minister.

The ACB, which has registered two FIRs, is now in the process of acquiring records from various departments, including BDA. BDA had allotted 3,546 acres for the disputed housing project.

The first FIR refers to a complaint filed by an NGO Jana Samanya Vedike. Yeddyurappa is accused of denotifying a property with survey number 1091, measuring 3 acre 6 guntas at Avalahalli. The complaint states that Yeddyurappa went against BDA’s recommendation and denotified the land without the denotification committee's approval.

This case pertains to a person named Asha Pardeshi. Her name does not appear in the land records and she had sought dropping of the said land from the acquisition process in January 2009. Her name is only reflected in land records between 2011-12. 

According to a source in the BDA, Asha Pardeshi had applied to Yeddyurappa’s office seeking denotification of land. At the time, BDA had submitted a report to Yeddyurappa. The agency had suggested that Yeddyurappa drop the land acquisition process, stating that the land was situated in the middle of the proposed Shivarama Karanth Layout.

The allegation is that Yeddyurappa had denotified the land without considering the BDA’s or the committee’s approval.

The ACB has also registered cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act against SN Gowrishankar, the then Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru and officers Premachandra, the Under Secretary, Basavaraju, the then Deputy Secretary, Subir Harisingh, the former Additional Chief Secretary. All these officials were under the Urban Development Department.

The second case pertains to denotification of land measuring 18 gunta at survey number 222 and a 1 acre 8 gunta plot with survey number 241.

Close to 20 cases have so far come to light including land measuring over 40 acres in Ramagondanahalli, BM Kaval, Kempanahalli (Yelahanka hobli), another 48 acres in the same villages, 23 acres 8 gunta in Avalahalli (Yelahanka Hobli), 57 acres in Ramagondanahalli and Avalahalli (Yelahanka), 12 acres in Somashetti halli, Yeshwantpur,16 acres 16 guntas in Byalakere, Hesarghatta (hobli).

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