Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Oct 20: The ruling Bharatiya Janatha party government seems to be plunging into more crisis, with Lokayukta court on Thursday October 20 directing Lokayukta superintendent of police to register a case against R Ashok on illegal denotification case, under section 156 (3) of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
With already four former ministers including former chief minister in jail, any further arrest could put the state government into deep embarrassment, political experts feel. The others in the jail are Janardhana Reddy, Katta Subramanyam, Krishnaiah Setty.
R Ashok, who is holding the powerful transport ministry along with the important home minister portfolio may be under pressure to resign from his post if chargesheet is filed.
It may be recalled that on Wednesday October 19, Jayakumar Hiremath, an RTI activist, had filed a complaint accusing Karnataka home minister R Ashok of being involved in illegal denotification of about half an acre of land government land in Lottegollahalli in north Bangalore, causing an estimated loss of Rs 50 crore to the state exchequer.
Yeddyurappa too has been named in the complaint, as the denotification took place when he was the chief minister.
Hiremath in his complaint said the minister had allegedly denotified 9.12 guntas and 14 guntas (a gunta is 1/40 of an acre) of land belonging to Bangalore Development Authority in Lottegollahalli when B S Yeddyurappa was the Chief Minister. Yeddyurappa is the second accused in the complaint.
Lokayukta Special Court Judge N K Sudhindra Rao also directed Lokayukta SP to investigate the matter and submit a report on the issue by November 5.