P M Raghunandan
Bangalore, Nov 19 (DHNS): At a time when most of his colleagues became crorepatis overnight by managing to get a 'G' category BDA site allotted by filing false affidavits, Wakf Minister Prof Mumtaz Ali has set an example for honesty by turning down Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa’s offer of a site in a prime locality.
Prof Khan, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party MLC, recently surrendered to the Authority a 50/80 ft BDA site allotted to him in plush HRBR layout by the Chief Minister, declaring that he already owns a site in Bangalore city and that he is ineligible to get the site under ‘G’ category.
“I have been asked to file an affidavit to the BDA declaring that I do not own a site or a house in Bangalore. I cannot do it. I cannot act against my conscience for the sake of a site. I have stood for honesty all through my life. I have respect in society and I want to retain it through my life. I appreciate your gesture in sanctioning a site to me,” Khan stated in a letter dated June 24, 2009, written to the chief minister.
'G' category sites
In contrast, several other MLAs cutting across party affiliations have got ‘G’ category sites from the Chief Minister despite owning plots and residential houses in Bangalore.
Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra, an MP, too, had taken one such site by filing a false affidavit.
Yeddyurappa had asked him to apply for a ‘G’ category BDA site in 2008 during the Belgaum session of the State Legislature.
Prof Khan submitted an application and the chief minister sanctioned a site in May 2009. The Wakf Minister even asked the then BDA Commissioner H Siddaiah to allot him the site in HRBR layout.
Affidavit filed
“I received a letter from the BDA that I have been allotted the site. I was also asked to file an affidavit that I do not own any other site in Bangalore. I was not aware that I should have to file the affidavit. I decided not to file the affidavit, as I already owned a site at Ganganagar,” he told Deccan Herald. He officially surrendered the site to the BDA in July 2010.
“Some of my colleagues tried to convince me to re-consider my decision. They said the site will fetch at least Rs two crore, and I was supposed to pay only Rs eight lakh for it. I was also told that nobody will bother about the false affidavit,” he said, but refused to reveal the names of his colleagues. However, he said, his wife and two children were very happy with his decision.