CM’s kin may lose BDA plots

With the HC striking down govt's power to allot BDA land, many of Yeddy's beneficiaries may have to kiss allotments goodbye

CM's kin may lose BDA plots

With the HC striking down govt's power to allot BDA land, many of Yeddy's beneficiaries may have to kiss allotments goodbye

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While the High Court has struck down the government's discretionary powers to allot Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) sites, Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa's beneficiaries are facing a threat of cancellation of allotments.

This was mine: The under-construction building at one of the BDA sites
allotted to (inset) MP B Y Raghavendra under G-category. File pics

Hearing a PIL yesterday, a two-member bench comprising of Chief Justice Jagadish Kehar Singh and A S Bopaiah observed that though it was a serious issue, it was difficult to cancel the allotments older than two years, since as the sites would have changed hands and constructions may have started. However, hinting at the cancellation of the allotments done by Yeddyurappa government last year, the court asked the petitioner to provide the Supreme Court guide lines for allotting sites under G-category using the CM's discretionary power.

Yeddyurappa had came under media attack last year, for having allotted high-end BDA sites to his kin, including his MP son B Y Raghavendra, under G-category. Although he managed to save his chair thanks to political manipulations, S Vasudev, a whistle blower and lawyer, moved the High Court with a request for cancellation of allotments done from 1997.u00a0

The racket has assumed scandalous proportion with beneficiaries obtaining sites thanks to the close proximity of politicians for a subsidies price and selling them to higher market price, violating lease period norms. Realising the seriousness of the case, the court said it would even consider referring it to a larger bench.

Recently, in a different case, when former MLA Kumar Bangarappa was allotted a site and he had got an alternative site before illegally selling it, the High Court had ruled that the government had no discretionary power to allot BDA sites as the BDA is governed by a separate act that does not allow any role for the government to play in this regard.

Haryana High Court had also pronounced a similar judgment following which government of Punjab and Haryana moved the Supreme Court that issued guidelines for government site allotment.

While hearing the case yesterday, the High Court bench asked Vasudev to provide details of the SC guidelines. "I would provide all the details so that it would be easier for the court to take a decision. So I have taken time until March," said Vasudev.

Freebies galore

While Yeddyurappa is accused of nepotism in allotting BDA sites under G-category, it was found that his son B Y Raghavendra had got the site after giving a false affidavit that he had no property in the city, while he owned a commercial complex. Apart from this, Yeddyurappa had favoured his close relatives, including his sister and her son and her daughter-in-law.
At the insistence of his party high command, he asked his relatives to surrender the sites following which the BDA wrote to them to surrender the papers, after giving back the money they had paid, on November 16, 2010. However, except Raghavendra they are yet to return the papers, while the BDA is apparently not keen on recovering the sites from them.

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