Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)

Mangaluru, Feb 14: Former chief minister and BJP leader Jagadish Shettar on Saturday February 14 spoke at length about the alleged denotfication of Arkavathi layout and said that contrary to the state government's claims, 'redo' and 'denotification' mean the same, and that there is no provision for 'redo' in Land Acquisition Act. He also demanded CBI probe into the case and said that chief minister Siddaramaiah would be caught if the CBI investigates.

Addressing reporters at Circuit House during his private visit to the city, he said, "As opposition leader in the Legislative Assembly, I was the first to raise this issue in the Assembly. As much as 700 acres of land has been denotified. Chief minister Siddaramaiah is claiming that guidelines of the high court and the Supreme Court have been followed under the 'remodified scheme'.

"Both re-modified (redo) and denotification are same. As per section 48(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, there is provision only for denotification. To drop the land as per the guidelines of the court, you have to denotify under section 48(1) of the Act.

"Hence there is no provision under Land Acquisition Act for 'redo', hence they have denotified more than 700 acres of land. No chief minister has done denotification of this magnitude," he added.

"If the land comes under the 6 guidelines of the Supreme Court, the BDA can consider, but it was not necessary to denotify this land. Out of the nearly 700 acres of land, only 10% may be under the Supreme Court guidelines while 90% was illegal. More than 700 acres of land was denotified under the shelter of SC guidelines. So this is a major land scam, and CM Siddaramaiah has committed a mistake. It is because Siddaramaiah cleared the file that the massive scam came to light. This shoud be investigated by the CBI," he said.

"They have formed Justice Kempanna Commission to probe the issue. Though the commission was formed 6 months ago, it is only now that they are submitting the files to the inquiry commission. It is an attempt to delay and ultimately close the matter. Wherever they go, the Congress leaders, including Siddaramaiah, claim that not even a single inch of land has been denotified. But they say that it was 'redone' which proves that 700 acres of land has indeed been denotified. Investigation will bring everything to light," Shettar said.

On plans to meet the governor on the issue, he said, "With the help of legal cell advisor and social activists, we are ready to file a petition before the governor. We did not get an appointment yet. Once we do, the case will put forward. If he gives permission for prosecution we will continue our legal fight."

He further said that the BJP is demanding CBI investigation into the case because there are several hidden issues. "This should be examined by going to the field and collecting evidence.
The CBI is a bigger agency than the inquiry commission which has limited provisions. If CBI probe is ordered, then Siddaramaiah will definitely be caught. Hence, to avoid this, the state government has set up the commission."

On the government's claims that the denotification was done during BJP's regime in the state, he said, "Today it is the Congress government that is in power in the state. If I had done this denotification, he (Siddaramaiah) could have taken any action against me. Let him file a case against me and hand it over to the CBI or CID. I am the opposition party leader. Still, they have not filed a case, which means there was no mistake by the BJP.

"The CM could have checked when the denotification was done while signing the files. If it was done during BJP's tenure, he would have checked if it was for good or bad. The chief minister's signature carries weight, and if he signs, it means it is in order. Why did he clear the file if it was not in order?" he questioned.

On the possibility of bringing mining baron Janardhana Reddy back into BJP, Shettar said, "Janardhana Reddy recently came out on bail. Let him first decide whether he wants to return to politics or not, then we will decide."