ACB seeks action against BDA for allowing trust to sell CA site

The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has recommended disciplinary proceedings against officials of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) for failing to take action against C R Jain Charitable Trust which raised huge loans by mortgaging the civic amenity (CA) site allotted to it and also reportedly sold it to a private hospital.

The ACB has also recommended to the BDA to cancel the allotment of the CA site. C R Jain Charitable Trust was allotted a CA site number 3 (p) measuring 2,580 sq mts in Jnanabharathi Layout at Valagerahalli I Block in June 2007.

The CA site was allotted to the trust to construct a hospital. The trust had paid Rs 1.29 crore towards the leasehold rights of the site. Subsequently, the trust approached the BDA seeking a no-objection certificate (NOC) to mortgage the property to raise a loan. Though NOC is not permissible according to rules, BDA reportedly accorded permission to mortage the property. After initially raising a loan of Rs 6 crore from State Bank of India, the trust turned defaulter. Similarly, using the very NOC, the trust reportedly raised loans from the Karnataka State Financial Corporation (KSFC), Indian Bank and the banks raised a Non Performing Asset (NPA) report.

A R Ashok Kumar Adiga, a social activist, who came to know about the illegalities in the allotment of the CA site, filed a complaint with the ACB. “I saw the demand notice in the newspaper by the State Bank of India. The name of the asset mentioned in the publication drew my attention since it was a CA site. I obtained documents, including BDA proceedings, and came to know that the allotment of the CA site itself was made out of turn. Former IAS officer Shankarlinge Gowda was the BDA commissioner then. Meanwhile, the trust either sold or entered into a joint development agreement with a private hospital named Medsol Hospital OPC Pvt Ltd which built a hospital on the site,” he said.
Based on the complaint, ACB conducted a preliminary enquiry and found that the allotment of the CA site itself was illegal.

The ACB stated, “It is recommended to cancel the allotment of the CA site to C R Jain Charitable Trust in view of the irregularities. It also recommended disciplinary proceedings against BDA officials for failing to take action in this regard.”

Adiga has also filed a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation against the banks for sanctioning loans against the security which is a government land. He said the CBI is still holding a preliminary enquiry.