Karnataka: Another Lokayukta probe against BSY

SHIMOGA: In another setback to former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, the principal district and sessions court on Tuesday admitted a private case against him, his daughter S Y Arunadevi and six others for getting Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) sites under the discretionary and press quota.Advocate B Vinod filed a case against eight people on Tuesday under Section 13 (1D) of Prevention of Corruption Act and made Yeddyurappa the first accused, his daughter Arunadevi the second accused and KHB commissioner Dyaberi and assistant engineer at Shimoga office Haleshappa as third and fourth accused.Admitting the case, principal district and sessions court judge Mahalakshmi Nerale directed the Lokayukta police to probe the case under Section 13(1D) of Prevention of Corruption Act and submit a report to the court by March 14.Charging Yeddyurappa with nepotism, Vinod alleged that when he was deputy chief minister, he allotted KHB sites to four people under discretionary and press quota only to transfer them to his daughter Arunadevi’s name. The KHB had allotted sites (44, 45, 58 and 59) to Manjunath under discretionary quota and Krishna, Shivashankar and Sandesh Gowda under press quota at its layout on Kallahalli-Kashipur Road.But the three who got sites under the press quota were not journalists. While the KHB issued sale deeds to the parties on June 27, 2007, the applicants applied for sites only on August 8, 2007.This, Vinod says, means KHB officials yielded to pressure from the then deputy chief minister and issued sale deeds even before they applied for sites. Soon after they were allotted sites, they sold them to Arunadevi at less than the market value, he alleged.Vinod told Express that he had filed the case in the Bangalore Lokayukta office six months ago but Lokayukta officials postponed the hearing. As the principal district and sessions court judge has special powers to try cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, he filed the case in the Shimoga court.