HC notice to BSY in forest land grab plaint

The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday ordered notice to former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in a criminal revision petition filed by advocate Vinod B, who had filed a private complaint before the Lokayukta against the senior BJP leader and his son B Y Raghavendra.

Vinod had contended that Yeddyurappa and Raghavendra had encroached upon 66 acres of reserve forest area in Hunasekatte village in Bhadravathi taluk in Shivamogga district.

In another complaint, he had charged Yeddyurappa with nepotism when he was the deputy chief minister.

He stated that Yeddyurappa had allotted Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) sites to four people under discretionary and ‘Press’ quota only to transfer them into his daughter Arunadevi’s name later. The KHB had allotted sites (44, 45, 58 and 59) to Manjunath under the discretionary quota and Krishna, Shivashankar and Sandesh Gowda under ‘Press’ quota at its layout on Kallahalli-Kashipur Road in Shivamogga city.

The lower court has quashed the proceedings against Yeddyurappa and his son. Justice Aravind Kumar ordered notice in the matter.