IAS officers face probe in land deal

A Special Lokayukta Court here on Saturday asked the Lokayukta police to investigate a private complaint naming IAS officers Subir Hari Singh, Bharat Lal Meena and Siddaiah, among others, claiming that they had wilfully ignored agreements by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).

The complaint, filed by ex-councillor Lakshminarayana, accuses five IAS officers and one KAS officer, among others, for flagrantly violating rules and allowing the conversion of a piece of land meant for maintaining a nursery into residential property. The police have been directed by the court to report to it on March 30.

According to Lakshminarayana, the BDA notified several acres of land at Arakere near Bannerghatta Road for the JP Nagar 9th phase layout in 1991. M R Ramesh, a landowner, had applied to the BDA requesting denotification of his land measuring seven acres and 12 guntas, pleading that he was maintaining a plant nursery on the land. In August 1996, the BDA denotified the land on condition that the plot would be used solely for the nursery. The BDA cautioned that if the condition was  violated, the land would be acquired for forming the layout.

The complainant alleged that in 2007, Ramesh and his two sons sold the land to SJR Builders and applied for conversion of land by fabricating documents and showing that the builders and the land owners had a joint development agreement registered in the sub-registrar’s office. After conversion, the builders began constructing an apartment complex on the plot. The complainant said BDA commissioners took no action, even though the violation was brought to their notice.

The complaint also names IAS officers Rame Gowda and M V Veerabhadraiah, KAS officer G S Naik, officials Yashodhara and Sosale Indudhar. Bhupesh Reddy and J Vijay Reddy of SJR Builders, land owner M R Ramesh and his sons Satish and Ravi also figure in the complaint.