The Special Lokayukta Court on Monday denied bail to the former BJP Minister, Katta Subramanya Naidu, his son Katta Jagadish Naidu and business associate S.V. Srinivas in the ITASCA Software-Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board land scam case. They were remanded in judicial custody and shifted to the Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara here.
The court also summoned the former Chief Ministers, B.S. Yeddyurappa and H.D. Kumaraswamy, to appear on August 27 in two separate cases. Judge Sudhindra Rao issued summons to Mr. Yeddyurappa and his associates on a land-grab complaint filed by Sirajin Bhasha and K.N. Balraj.
The judge ordered the Lokayukta police to start investigating a private complaint filed by Janata Dal(Secular) MLC Y.S.V. Datta that Mr. Yeddyurappa had indulged in corruption while awarding contracts for the Upper Bhadra drip irrigation project.
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In his fourth order of the day, he issued summons to JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy and his wife, Anitha, in two cases of alleged corruption filed by advocate Vinod Kumar, vice-president of the BJP legal cell. The first is in connection with the grant of iron ore mining leases by Mr. Kumaraswamy to Janthakal Enterprises in Chitradurga district in violation of norms. The second is in connection with the alleged allotment of land to a housing society in Bangalore, in exchange for a site in the project, to Ms. Kumaraswamy.
Later, hundreds of people, despite pouring rain, jostled with one another to get a glimpse of Mr. Naidu and his son being bundled into a Lokayukta Police jeep on their way to the prison.
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The case pertains to their alleged involvement in a scam in which 3,266 acres was acquired for a Special Economic Zone near the Bengaluru International Airport. The land was allegedly purchased adopting criminal intimidation and forgery in 2006 when Mr. Naidu was Industries Minister in the JD(S)-BJP coalition government. The contract for setting up an IT SEZ was awarded to Mr. Naidu's son through a company, ITASCA Software.
The accused have been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 as well as the Indian Penal Code. The charges range from misuse of official power, fraud, forgery, cheating, bribery, influencing a public official to commit an unlawful act as well as criminal intimidation.