The Karnataka High Court on Monday vacated its earlier interim order of staying the proceedings in a corruption case against Minister V. Somanna and others before the Special Lokayukta Court connected to illegal denotification of land.
Justice Anand Byrareddy passed the order while hearing the petitions filed against the proceedings of the case by the Special Lokayukta Court despite “B” report filed by the Lokayukta Police that they did not find evidence against the persons accused in the case.
The Special Court had proceeded based on the private complaint in which it was alleged that the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had denotified 22 guntas of land at Nagadevanahalli in Bangalore that was acquired by the Bangalore Development Authority. Despite acquisition, the landowner had sold this piece of land to Shylaja, wife of Somanna. And it was denotified on the directions of Mr. Yeddyurappa, the complaint had alleged.
Summoned
The High Court on Monday summoned the Chairman of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to appear before it on July 4 on connection with a case in which the board had failed to comply with an undertaking to the court on purchase of new jetting machines to end the menace of manual scavenging of underground drainage system.
During the hearing on the public interest litigation plea on deaths of labourers at work when they were engaged in manual scavenging, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice B.V. Nagarathna noted that though the BWSSB had given an undertaking in July 2011 that 48 new jetting machines would be purchased within six month only four have been procured so far.
