Amid the political standoff between Karnataka’s Raj Bhavan and the state government, governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot on Sunday sought a copy of the Justice HS Kempanna Commission report from the government in the illegal denotification of lands under the Arkavathy Layout scheme.
Gehlot’s request follows a letter sent last month by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLC CT Ravi, urging Gehlot to press Siddaramaiah to publicly release the report. The Kempanna commission was constituted in 2014 under Siddaramaiah’s administration to investigate the claims of irregularities in land acquisition and denotification.
Although the commission submitted its report in 2017, it was never been made public.
The controversy gained fresh momentum in February 2023 when former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, in a speech in the Karnataka assembly, cited portions of the report. Bommai said that 868 acres of land were wrongfully removed from acquisition, violating court orders and benefiting specific landowners.
“The manner in which Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) officers’ recommendations were manipulated turned the entire Arkavathy Layout scheme into a scam,” he said.
Gehlot’s latest action has revived political tensions, with the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) intensifying its criticism of the chief minister. In a public statement, the party called for Siddaramaiah’s resignation, accusing his administration of illegally denotifying 541 acres of land.
{{/usCountry}}Gehlot’s latest action has revived political tensions, with the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) intensifying its criticism of the chief minister. In a public statement, the party called for Siddaramaiah’s resignation, accusing his administration of illegally denotifying 541 acres of land.
{{/usCountry}}The JD(S) took to social media, stating, “It is a major embarrassment for the Congress government that the Governor had to request the Justice Kempanna Commission’s report. Siddaramaiah, who is already facing charges in the MUDA case, should step down before lecturing on morality.”
When asked about the governor writing to the government regarding the Arkavathy Layout, chief minister Siddaramaiah said the government would take note of the matter.
Speaking on the governor writing to the chief secretaries about the alleged leak, they mentioned, “It is possible that the leak (about the letter written to the government) occurred from the governor’s office itself.” They also called for an investigation into the matter.
This latest move by Gehlot comes on the heels of his earlier decision to sanction an investigation into allegations that MUDA (Mysuru Urban Development Authority) had allotted multiple plots to Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi, under a 50:50 scheme.
The Karnataka high court has concluded hearings on a petition filed by Siddaramaiah, challenging the legality of the governor’s sanction for this investigation, with the court’s ruling still pending.
In another recent development, Gehlot sought a report from the state government on a complaint that MUDA undertook projects worth ₹387 crore in the Varuna and Srirangapatna assembly constituencies, allegedly based on oral instructions from Siddaramaiah, further intensifying scrutiny on the CM’s previous actions.
In response, the Congress government, led by Siddaramaiah, has initiated investigations into multiple alleged scams from the previous BJP regime. Home minister G Parameshwara has asked to head a committee tasked with coordinating and expediting the investigations into 21 irregularities that were allegedly carried out during the BJP regime.
The committee, which includes ministers HK Patil, Krishna Byre Gowda, Santosh Lad, and Priyank Kharge, will submit its recommendations within one to two months.