In a setback to Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy who is set for a floor test on Monday, a Lokayukta special court in Bengaluru rejected a closure report filed by the Lokayukta police related to him in connection with a land denotification case.
The case, which was filed in 2012 by activist MS Mahadeva Swamy, alleged that on the last day of his tenure as CM at the time, Kumaraswamy denotified 3 acres 34 guntas in two parcels in Halagevaderahalli which was originally meant for Banashankari V stage.
The Lokayukta court’s decision incidentally came after a protest petition by the complainant yet again.
“Despite being a fit case for charge sheet, a ‘B’ report was filed after the chief minister influenced the probe,” Swamy told The Hindu. The ‘B’ report is a closure report, which cited a lack of evidence.
The Times of India reported that Judge Ramachandra D Huddar of the special court directed Mahadeva Swamy to appear before the court to record his statement.
The activist alleged that following denotification, the said land was sold to the original owners of the land, who, in turn, sold the land to another owner party of eight members. These eight owners had again sold the land to others in joint development. The complaint alleged that all the beneficiaries of this land deal were close relatives of the CM and resulted in “pecuniary gain” for him. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for July 26.
This means the CM will continue to face proceedings under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (punishment for criminal conspiracy) 420 (cheating) , 483 (counterfeiting property mark), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating) and 471 (using forged documents as original) of Indian Penal Code, sections 13(1)( c ),13(1) (d), 13(1) (e) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and sections 3 and 4 of Karnataka Land (Restriction and Transfer) Act, 1981.
This is not the only case of illegal land denotification against Kumaraswamy. In August, 2018, the same court dropped a case against him in connection with the Arkavathy Layout denotification case before the trial began.