BSY took kickbacks for contract to Maverick: JD(S)

BSY took kickbacks for contract to Maverick: JD(S)


The EWS quarters in Koramangala
Express New Service
30 Sep 2008 08:23:00 AM IST

BANGALORE: The JD(S) has accused Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa of taking a Rs 50-crore bribe from Maverick Holdings and Investments, which was recently given the contract to rebuild EWS quarters and allowed to commercially utilise the remaining 50 per cent of the land opposite the National Games Village in Koramangala.

Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday alleged that the CM and Principal Secretary (Urban Development Department) had taken kickbacks to part the prime land to the developer.

The Cabinet had recently given the green signal, after the High Court vacated the stay, allowing the Maverick Holdings and Investments to go ahead with the construction of EWS quarters and a commercial complex on Built-Own-Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis. The transfer will happen after 30 years. The builder was also allowed to keep 3.5 acres as per the understanding with the BBMP.

Kumaraswamy recalled that when he was the CM, he had suggested building the EWS quarters by using funds from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). “The manner in which the Cabinet cleared the project, without even discussing it, shows that there were some underhand dealings,” Kumaraswamy alleged.

Earlier in the day, former minister B L Shankar, urged the government to immediately cancel the contract given to the promoters of Garuda Mall and order an independent probe on how the company with a lesser bid was given the contract. Meanwhile, Transport Minister R Ashok told reporters that the Cabinet had only given a formal nod to Maverick as the High Court had cleared the contract awarded to it by the BBMP.

“It was a unanimous decision of the Cabinet and there is nothing to hide,” he said. On the Congress’ demand for a probe in the Garuda Mall case, Ashok shot back: “We will definitely order a probe into allocation of prime lands to construct malls in joint ventures by the S M Krishna-led Congress government. Probably, Mr Shankar doesn’t know about these issues as he was in JD(S) earlier. So far we have not sanctioned any such joint ventures to construct malls.”