HC orders Lokayukta probe into allotment of shops in Jayanagar complex

The High Court of Karnataka on Monday ordered a Lokayukta inquiry into the allotment of shops at the Jayanagar Shopping Complex without issuing a tender.

A division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma has directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to co-operate with the Lokayukta inquiry by providing all the required documents.

In an earlier petition, the high court had passed an order on December 6, 2017, directing the BBMP not to allot shops without calling a tender.

In 2019, a city-based social activist M Sharanu filed a fresh PIL contending that the BBMP allotted 11 shops without issuing a tender.

The BBMP defended its action stating that the shops were allotted as per a resolution dated October 16, 2017, stating that a tender process is not necessary. In addition, the BBMP stated that the standing committee, which took the decision, does not hold office anymore.

The bench said it cannot remain a silent spectator to the irregularities committed by the BBMP and requested the Lokayukta to hold a thorough inquiry keeping in mind the court’s order passed in December 2017.

“The BBMP chief commissioner shall cooperate with the inquiry to be taken up by the Lokayukta and provide all documents required. The Lokayukta shall be free to fix responsibility on the officers responsible and shall submit a report in the matter,” the bench said. The Lokayukta has been given three months to conduct the inquiry.

In the previous hearings, the bench had pointed out that the BBMP’s action clearly violated its own undertaking before the court that shops will be allotted based on a tender process.

The incumbent Palike chief commissioner submitted that he took charge only on April 1, 2021, and the officer who gave the undertaking is no longer in service.