JOIN USRight to Information (RTI) activist T J Abraham said on Saturday that he would request the Lokayukta Court to order that the property of and land allotted to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (Nice) be attached, due to several irregularities.
Abraham said there was a major fraud in the framework agreement itself as the land allocated was excess. He said the court should also direct the State to recover the toll amount collected by the firm so far.
He said that former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, at the time of inking the pact, had rejected the proposal by the Finance department to permit only three townships, and had, instead, given the nod for five townships, granting an excess of 4,285 acres. The project required 18,285 acres, Abraham said.
“But the then-PWD secretary Major Ramesh fabricated documents and allotted more land. The total land allotted was 20,193 acres, which means an additional 5,972 acres was granted to Nice,” he said. Noting that the 5,972 acres of land costs at least Rs 17,906 crore, he said, Nice violated the framework agreement by not laying concrete roads.
He said, for this, the toll collected so far should be recovered. Abraham said he would make a submission before the court on October 18, when the Lokayukta Court is expected to pronounce a judgement on whether the illegally obtained money, land and property should be attached by the government.