Denotification case : B S Yeddyurappa moves HC to quash summons against ACB

Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa has approached the Karnataka High Court seeking to quash summons against him by the Anti Corruption Bureau in a Rs 3,800 crore denotification case. The BJP, meanwhile, has denied any denotification and has claimed that the FIRs against Yeddyurappa, politically motivated.

Yeddyurappa who was summoned to appear before the ACB on Saturday has sought 10 days time. The BJP's chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming assembly elections 2018, in a letter to investigating officer of the ACB, has said that he is yet to collect information about the documents provided to him and has taken the RTI route to procure the same. He has sought 10 days time to appear before the investigating officials in the case

In a petition filed in the High Court seeking to quash ACB summons, Yeddyurappa has claimed that the case was based on misinformation. He has contended that denotification of excess land acquired by BDA was regular procedure followed by all authorities and governments. Meanwhile, the BJP jumped into damage control mode and defended its state chief.

"The fact of the matter is that there has been no identification. It is a regular practice for any government to leave out excess land acquired by any authority. This case is a result of Congress' vindictive politics. B S Yeddyurappa has not denotified any land. In fact, leaving out excess land has been done by all government including current Siddaramaiah government. The allegations are baseless and have been made with an intent to defame our leader," said Basavaraj Bommai n Saturday.

The complainant in the case, Aiyappa, however, has challenged BJP's claims. Rubbishing speculations of him being a Congress plant, Aiyappa has asked Yeddyurappa to prove his innocence by appearing before the ACB in the case. Yeddyurappa along with officials of the BDA and urban development department has been accused of illegally denotifying land acquired for a layout in Bengaluru. The complainant has alleged that the BDA lost Rs 3,800 crore because of Yeddyurappa, the then Chief Minister, denotifying land illegally.