Probe into land scams allegedly involving the chief minister will start once the high court passes its order on who should investigate the cases, says Hegde.
The sword of Damocles seems to be hanging over the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Lok ayukta N Santosh Hegde said on Friday that there were 10 more big fish to be caught in land scam cases.
Reacting to queries on the first information report (FIR) filed against former IT&BT minister Katta Subramanya Naidu and his son Katta Jagadish, he said the criminal case registered against the duo does not mean that everything was over in the case. He said the minister and his corporator son need not be arrested just because an FIR was filed against them.
“They will be arrested if they make a wrong move like tampering with the evidence and destroying them or in case they abscond for a long time,” he said.
The FIR against the minister and his son points out to irregularities in the allotment of 325 acres of land to Itaska Software Company, floated by Naidu, his family members and aides. The allotment of land and obtaining consent of farmers were done to favour the minister, his kin and associates. It was also alleged that an illegal gratification of `87 crore was paid to a benami company floated by the Naidu family.
Hegde also said that an enquiry into scandals relating to the chief minister would be initiated once the high court passes an order on a public interest litigation seeking direction on who should investigate the land scams. “The court has to give a direction whether the lok ayukta or the justice B Padmaraj Commission should proceed with the investigation,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Congress has lodged a 388-page complaint against chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, his son BY Raghavendra and other key ministers. The complaint was lodged by Congress leaders VS Ugrappa, BL Shankar and Appaji Nadagowda on behalf of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.
The complaint also comprised names of some of the personal staff of the chief minister and officials of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB), department of mines and geology, department of stamps and registration and department of forest.
The Congress leaders submitted papers related to flouting of norms in the denotification of land by the KIADB and allotment of sites by the BDA. They demanded a lok ayukta probe into the alleged scams, contending that those who figured in the complaint did not show correct assets in their annual declarations filed before the lok ayukta.
The Congress leaders urged the lok ayukta to find out the loss caused to the state exchequer and the people responsible for the
illegal acts. They also sought criminal prosecution against the defaulters.
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