Karnataka High Court orders interim stay on land grab probe against Union minister Kumaraswamy
A single-judge bench of Justice ES Indiresh passed the order acting on a petition filed by the JD(S) leader that asked for the cancellation of the government order for the investigation, as well as a declaration that all subsequent action by revenue authorities would be illegal. It also requested an interim stay on the January 28 government order.
The petition has also argued that there are certain issues with the validity of the investigation, such as the absence of an official notification for the government order that instituted the SIT. The SIT has been set up to investigate alleged land encroachment by Kumaraswamy and several others in Ramanagara district. On account of a lack of documents for original land grants, the revenue authorities had identified certain land as being government property, including 14 acres supposedly owned by the JD(S) leader in Kethiganahalli near the Bidadi area in Ramanagara.
The matter came to light in 2014 when former Mandya MP G Madegowda filed a complaint alleging encroachment on government land valued over Rs 130 crore by Kumaraswamy, his aunt, and a former MLA and relative, D C Thamanna.
Based on a 2020 high court petition filed by an NGO regarding the issue, the government had earlier undertaken to recover the public land that had been encroached. The government informed the court on January 29 that the five-member SIT, based on the government order of the previous day, would investigate six survey numbers in Bidadi hobli. (A hobli is a subdivision of a taluk).
As previously reported by indianexpress.com, Kumaraswamy told reporters in February in Hassan, 'I informed the principal secretary, 'Look, this is not government land, it is my personal property. How can you come without issuing a notice? I bought this land 40 years ago. If you wish to survey it, first issue me a notice as the rightful owner'.'
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