Bengaluru/New Delhi: Former Chief Minister and BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa has denied before the Supreme Court any wrongdoing in passing orders for denotification of land during his tenure as the CM.

Yeddyurappa asserted that the registration of 15 FIRs on the direction of the Lokayukta on the basis of Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) reports was “completely misplaced” and has rightly been quashed by the Karnataka High Court.

He also contended that the CAG reports did not contain any incriminating materials, which could indicate any offence or criminality on his part. “Mere administrative order unaccompanied by an allegation of illegal gratification cannot be subject matter of criminal investigation,” Yeddyurappa asserted.

The former CM also justified the orders for denotificaton of land, saying, “Those of lands which were not utilised by the beneficiary of the acquisition for a consideration time and in respect of which the government was satisfied that the land may not be required for public purpose were either denotified or given up from acquisition proceedings.”

Responding to Karnataka’s petition challenging the High Court’s order of January 5, he maintained that it was not permissible for the state machinery or the police to have registered FIRs on the basis of certain remarks in the CAG reports, considered to be the property of the House. The order for registration of 15 FIRs on the basis of a single complaint was mala fide, illegal and used as a tool for harassment, he claimed.

The Supreme Court is likely to consider the matter on October 17.

Courtesy: DHNS