Fresh plaint against BSY, Somanna

The complaint was filed on Thursday, by software engineer Ravi Krishna Reddy in the Special Lokayukta Court and lists Yeddyurappa, V Somanna, his wife Shylaja Somanna and D Lingaiah as the accused.

Judge N K Sudhindra Rao has posted the matter to November 21 for orders. Reddy’s complaint states that Yeddyurappa was responsible for denotifying 22 guntas of land in Nagadevanahalli in Kengeri hobli in Bangalore South to favour Somanna.

The complaint states that Survey nos 77 and 78, measuring around three acres and registered in the name of Deve Gowda, the father of Lingaiah, were acquired by the Bangalore Development Authority for the formation of Jnanabharathi Layout, and the final notification in this regard was published in January 1994.

A compensation of Rs 6.83 lakh was also awarded by the BDA in July, 1997. In 2004, Lingaiah executed a sale deed for his share of property in Survey no. 78 in favour of Shylaja, wife of Somanna.

Other plots in his name —totally measuring 22 guntas — were also registered in Shylaja’s name on the same day,  even though the land belonged to the BDA. Lingaiah also executed a rectification deed in favour of Shylaja to allow for construction, falsely stating that the 22 guntas had been denotified.

In 2005, Lingaiah applied for denotification of land claiming its possession and that several buildings have come up on the said property. But this was shot down by the denotification committee on the basis that the land belonged to the BDA. In 2009, Lingaiah submitted yet another application for denotification of land, and this was cleared by Yeddyurappa, despite strong reservations expressed by the Principal Secretary of the Urban Development Department, the complaint noted.

The complaint also stated that Somanna, a powerful minister and staunch follower of Yeddyurappa, used his clout and power to get the land denotified by suppressing facts and fabricating documents to induce belief that there were buildings constructed on the said land.

The complainant has alleged that the actions of the accused make them liable for offences punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code. Reddy has sought a probe by the Lokayukta police.