Bengaluru land fraud case: Retired IAS officer, 2 others to stand trial

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has refused to quash the proceedings against a retired IAS officer and two other officials on allegations of creating fake documents pertaining to two acres of government land.

The land, located at Ramanayakanahalli village, Sarjapur Hobli, Anekal taluk, Bengaluru Rural district, was purchased by former chief secretary Aravind Jadhav’s mother Tarabai Maruthi Rao Jadhav.

S Bhaskaran, a resident of Bengaluru, alleged that retired Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner V Shankar, surveyor DB Gangaiah, and Joint Director of Land Records Jayaprakash, along with Aravind Jadhav, misused their official powers to create fake land documents in respect of government land and caused loss to the exchequer.

Bhaskaran had filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in August 2016. The matter was later transferred to the Lokayukta police, which filed a charge sheet before the special court.

The three officials filed separate petitions in the high court challenging the complaint, the FIR, and the order granting sanction for prosecution.

They claimed that the FIR was registered belatedly, after a gap of two years. They also submitted that there were no documents to show that it was government land. They further contended that though Aravind was also named an accused, sanction for his prosecution was not given.

Justice HP Sandesh noted that prima facie materials are available against the petitioners and the investigating officer had also collected materials.

The court noted that the original grantee of the land was one Ramakrishnaiah, the son of Ramaiah. The specific allegation was with regard to the creation of documents, the creation of phodi work in the name of Tarabai based on the sale deed executed by Ramakrishnaiah, the son of Basappa. The allegation was that this person was not the original grantee.

The court further noted that the phodi work was done within three months without there being any application either by the mother of the chief secretary or by the original grantee.

"...Revenue Department, Survey Department and office of Deputy Commissioner worked at the behest of its then chief secretary without any material. Within a span of three months, phodi work was done and same is a history in the Revenue Department making of phodi within a period of three months and it appears to be this is the one phodi work which was done in the entire state within a span of three months only on the guise that the mother of the chief secretary had purchased the property, but not from the original allottee and also indulged in creation of documents in the name of a fictitious person Ramakrishnaiah S/o Basappa, who is not an original grantee," the court said while dismissing the petitions.