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PIL wants state to submit report on land denotification in Arkavathy Layout

The Justice Kempanna Commission had investigated denotification of land in Arkavathy Layout
Last Updated 07 September 2021, 00:07 IST

Bengaluru-based trust, Committee for Public Accountability, has filed a PIL in the High Court of Karnataka seeking direction to the state government to table the Justice (Retd) H S Kempanna Commission report before the legislature.

The Justice Kempanna Commission had investigated denotification of land in Arkavathy Layout. A division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma issued a notice to the state government based on the PIL.

The petition stated that the Justice Kempanna Commission submitted its report to the government on August 23, 2017. It quoted Section 3 (4) of the Commission of Enquiry Act, 1952, mandating the state government place the report before the legislature with the memorandum of action taken within six months of the submission of the report.

“In the present case, even after four years of the commission submitting its report, no action has been taken by the government,” the petition said.

The petition prayed for a probe by an agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) if the court comes to the conclusion that no direction can be issued to the state government to place the report before the legislature. The bench directed the government to file a statement of objections and posted the matter to November 15 for further consideration.

The commission was appointed after serious allegations were made in 2015 that the then chief minister denotified 541 acres of land in Arkavathy Layout in violation of the orders of the High Court and Supreme Court. The terms of reference to the commission included all orders of denotifications issued right from the final notification in 2004.

The commission was to enquire the legality of various resolutions passed by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) in 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2013 to exclude the denotification from final notification. The commission was also mandated to probe if the re-modified scheme of Arkavathy Layout gazetted on June 18, 2014, was in violation of the court orders.

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(Published 06 September 2021, 22:44 IST)

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