Land scam probe ordered by Yeddyurappa violates law: Ombusdman

BANGALORE - Karnataka Lok Ayukta (ombudsman) Monday reiterated that the judicial probe into land scams ordered by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa violates the law.

“The government has to take the ombudsman’s permission to order a probe into cases which the ombudsman is already investigating,” Lok Ayukta N. Santosh Hegde, a retired Supreme Court judge, told reporters here.

Yeddyurappa ordered the probe by retired Karnataka high court judge B. Padmaraj following allegations against him of favouring his kin with prime land.

He has asked the Padmaraj panel to investigate from 1995 allotment of residential sites under the chief minister’s discretionary quota in Bangalore and freeing of large tracts of land from government control by various government agencies.

The probe will cover the period of six chief ministers including Yeddyurappa.

Hegde asserted that he would not allow the government to sideline the institution of Lok Ayukta.

He said he was “not really interested in probing this (land deals by various chief ministers) but cannot allow the government to sideline an institution.”

Hegde repeated that he had nothing personal against Yeddyurappa. The issue was “how can the government sideline Lok Ayukta and order a probe without my consent (when he was already investigating the cases).”

“The government should withdraw the order and seek my permission,” he insisted.

The government, however, contends that prior permission of Lok Ayukta was not necessary.

The state advocate general Ashok Harnahalli, to whom the Lok Ayukta objection was referred to, has given the opinion that the government was within its rights to order a judicial probe even though the Lok Ayukta was investigating the case.

Hegde also said that the Lok Ayukta would soon file a chargesheet against Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) for ‘denotifying’ (freeing from its control) certain lands.

He did not specify whether the case pertains to the period of Yeddyurappa’s chief ministership. Yeddyurappa assumed office in May 2008.

The Padmaraj panel is to look into allotment of residential sites developed by Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and ‘denotification’ by KIADB, Karnataka Housing Board and Urban Local Bodies since 1995.

Hegde said he has about eight more months of his five-year term and would complete the investigation into illegal mining and some of the land scams he was already investigating.

The Padmaraj panel has been given one year to submit its findings.