'Ex-B'luru Urban DC, others cleared illegal land transfer'

Former BBMP corporator complains to Lokayukta cops

A former BBMP corporator has complained to the Lokayukta police against former IAS officer M K Aiyappa, former Special Deputy Commissioner G S Nayak and others, including the then Assistant Commissioner G M Gangadharaswamy, the son-in-law of Upa Lokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi, over a land deal.

The complaint pertains to illegal transfer of a piece of land that was part of two acres acquired in Nagarabhavi village in Vijayanagar for the development of Vinayaka Housing Board Co-operative Society in 1985.

The Lokayukta police had investigated the case in 2013 after a man named Markandeya S Gombe filed a private complaint before the Lokayukta special court. But the High Court quashed the case on the grounds that prior sanction was not taken before the private complaint was filed. This time, a different complainant, former corporator C Lakshminarayana, has filed the same complaint.

Allotted land
As per the complaint, the Society was allotted land after all the formalities, including obtaining the work order and khatas from the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The sites were also registered in members’ names. A woman named Galihanumamma filed a case against Malliappa, the original landowner, under the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, with the Assistant Commissioner who ordered the restoration of the property to her. Once the property was restored, Galihanumamma sold an acre to a man named Mirle Varadaraju for Rs three crore after obtaining the government’s permission. Later, she filed an application for conversion of two acres of land for residential purpose, including the one acre she had sold.

The complaint stated that all the officials were aware about the status of the land, but still allowed the sale, change of land use and attempted to get the khatas allotted to the housing society members cancelled. In one of the note sheets, the Assistant Commissioner made a reference asking for clarification from the BDA. However, before the clarification could come in the next noting, he recommended change of land use, the complaint stated.

The complainant has demanded that an FIR be registered against all the officials, including Nayak, Aiyappa, Gangadharaswamy and other officials, the then Special Tahsildar R Krishnaiya, tahsildars B Shivasamy and R Suma, Surveyor M N Srinivasa Reddy, Galihanumamma and Varadaraju, who were “illegal” beneficiaries.