Judicial inquiry ordered into Bangalore-Mysore corridor project

Judicial inquiry ordered into Bangalore-Mysore corridor project

The Hindu

It is the biggest land scam in the history of State, says Chief Minister

# The judicial probe to be completed in two months
# Opposition demand for CBI probe rejected
# Chief Minister defends actions of Deve Gowda




Bangalore: The BJP-Janata Dal (S) coalition Government has shown its determination to pin down Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Ltd., promoters of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) expressway, by announcing a judicial inquiry into the project.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy announced the judicial inquiry in the Legislative Assembly and also prosecution of the officials who colluded with NICE. He described the project as a land scam unheard of in the history of the State.

He made the announcement during a marathon reply to the discussion which stretched for eight days. Mr. Kumaraswamy had come to the House with a large box containing confidential files. He offered to part with any information sought by the Opposition on the project.

The judicial probe would be completed within two months and the Government would act on the recommendations soon thereafter. The entire Opposition,,which heard the Chief Minister's spirited reply demanded an investigation by CBI.

The Congress members contended that a judicial inquiry would be time consuming and take time for the Government to prosecute those found guilty. The Chief Minister turned down the demand resulting in the Congress members commencing a dharna in the well of the House following which Speaker Krishna adjourned the House for the day. Turning down the demand for CBI investigation, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that the Government was well aware how that investigation agency was misused when it went into the stamp paper racket case.

In another development, the Chief Minister earlier in the day called on the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court Cyriac Joseph. It is well known that the Kumaraswamy Government has been up in arms against the BMIC project and the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has been keen on pinning down those who allegedly cornered lands in the name of the expressway.

At one stage, Mr. Kumaraswamy had an offer to the Opposition on the issue. If the House would pass the proposed legislation to take over the BMIC project, the Government would be willing to waive the loans owed by farmers running up to Rs.3,500 crore.

The Chief Minister in his reply also took pains to defend the actions of Mr. Deve Gowda,particularly the letters that he had written to the Governor in the matter. Mr. Kumaraswamy said land far in excess of the requirement for the expressway had been acquired and "gifted" to NICE and it was quite evident that some of the top officials were not aware of the details or were kept in the dark. The aim now was to bring the guilty to book.

Apart from the judicial probe and the criminal cases, the Government would also reclaim the excess lands made over for the project. In the first phase of the project, 430 acres of excess land adjoining Bangalore had been made over for the project and it would be returned to the farmers from whom it was acquired. Further, the S.M. Krishna Government, by a specific order, had parted with 1,931 acres of land and had even permitted NICE to mortgage it. Soon after the order, NICE mortgaged the land with the ICICI Bank and obtained a loan which was disbursed in instalments, Mr. Kumaraswamy said.

The Chief Minister denied that he had entered into any kind of understanding with the Managing Director of NICE as reported in a section of the press.