Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) Commissioner T. Sham Bhatt has been accused of wrongfully executing exchange deeds to a private individual handing him 4.13 acres of prime land in Arkavathy Layout.
S.R. Hiremath, founder-president of Samaj Parivartan Samudaya, released documents of the alleged scam on Thursday and demanded action against Mr. Bhatt. The BDA objected to the illegal layout in notified land of survey no. 73 of Banaswadi in 2008 and demolished buildings on 43 sites. The site owners approached the High Court, which directed the BDA to consider the case. The BDA decided to allot alternative sites to prevent further legal battle.
However, Mr. Bhatt, who became the BDA Commissioner in 2012, allotted 4.13 acres to G. Nagaraj, the GPA holder of the land, instead of the site owners, in clear violation of the legal opinion given by the then Additional Advocate-General. The land, instead of being allotted in the most recent layout, i.e. Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout, was allotted in Arkavathy Layout.
Mr. Bhatt told The Hindu that the decision was taken by the BDA board and predated his appointment. He said there was no scope to exercise his discretion in the case.
