BS Yeddyurappa moves HC, seeks quashing of ACB proceedings in illegal land denotification case

Bengaluru: Former Karnataka chief minister and state BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa has moved the high court, seeking quashing of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) proceedings against him in connection with an alleged illegal land denotification. He filed the petition in the Karnataka High Court on Saturday after the ACB had summoned him to appear before it. [caption id=“attachment_753709” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa. AFP[/caption] Yeddyurappa has been accused of de-notifying 257 acres of land from a preliminary notification of 3,546 acres, meant for the formation of the Dr K Shivaram Karanth Layout, “bypassing” the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) committee’s approval, when he was the chief minister between May 2008 and July 2011. Two FIRs had been filed against the BJP leader, based on a complaint by a member of the ‘Jana Samanya Vedike’, a social organisation. In his petition, Yeddyurappa alleged that the ACB was being used to target the opposition leaders in the state, “in retaliation” to the recent Income Tax raids on Karnataka energy minister DK Shivakumar’s properties. He also charged that the FIRs against him were a result of “political vendetta and mala fide intentions”. The former chief minister contended that there was no question of any denotification of land by him since the entire land acquisition was quashed by the high court in 2014. Yeddyurappa, who was asked to appear before the ACB on Saturday, has sought 10 days’ time, saying he needed to gather all the facts related to the matter. Pointing out that there was a gap of only two days between the date of issuing the summons and the date of appearance, Yeddyurappa said upon his request, he was given the copies of the complaint and the FIR, along with the preliminary inquiry report, only on 18 August.