The commissioner of the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) has been accused of giving plots to influential people illegally. After he was sharply rebuked by the Supreme Court over alleged irregularities, Rajesh Gowda MB was transferred on Friday, August 26. “You must immediately shift him from the BDA. He has no respect for our orders. From today, he shall not sign any important files. He cannot take any important decision,” the apex court had said, and Rajesh Gowda was transferred the next day. Senior officer G Kumar Naik will now take his place.
Here is what you need to know about the allegations against Gowda and why he was transferred:
A few years ago, sites measuring 50x80 feet in the upscale RMV 2nd stage were allotted to government officials, including state Home Minister Araga Jnanendra and former MP Basavaraj Patil Sedam. These were given to the officials in place of ‘G’ category sites, which were originally allotted to the officials in question in HSR Layout. ‘G’ sites are those allotted to persons in public life and are the prerogative of the Chief Minister. These can be only stray sites, however, and in order to be eligible the beneficiary cannot have been previously allotted any house or site by the BDA or any other authority in Bengaluru.
Rajesh Gowda had allegedly allotted the four sites in question in already developed areas. He was pulled up by the Supreme Court, as the court had in October last year ordered that sites in recovered or fully developed areas can only be given through auction, and that the BDA has no authority to allot them.
On Thursday, August 25, the Supreme Court was conducting a routine hearing into the regularisation of properties in Bengaluru’s Karanth Nagar when the bench tore into Rajesh Gowda, The New Indian Express reported. The bench observed that the alternative sites in RMV 2nd stage were valued at around Rs 9-10 crore each, and by allotting them to government officials, Gowda and others caused a huge financial loss to the BDA. “You shift the commissioner from BDA immediately. He has no respect for Supreme Court orders,” the bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna said orally. The bench also observed that action must be taken against the Secretary and Deputy Secretary as they were party to the illegal allotments.
A day after the Supreme Court made the observations, the state government’s Urban Development Department (UDD) ordered Gowda not to report to duty anymore and not to sign any documents.
Former Karnataka Administrative Services (KAS) officer and Aam Aadmi Party leader K Mathai has lodged a complaint against Gowda with the Lokayukta, alleging that the BDA was ignoring the housing needs of the poor and instead allotting expensive sites to influential public figures. Based on the complaint, the Lokayukta has reportedly begun investigating the matter.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra has denied allegations of using undue influence to get possession of the site. He claimed that though he has registered for the site three times he has not yet been able to claim it, and that he has also decided to go to court against the BDA.