The Karnataka government today appointed justice B Padmaraj, former judge of the Karnataka High Court as head of the commission of inquiry into the illegalities in the denotification of land by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) and Karnataka Housing Board (KHB).
The department of personnel and administrative reforms has issued the orders in exercise of powers conferred by Section 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 (Central Act 60 of 1952). The government has set a one-year deadline to complete the enquiry and give its report within a period of one year.
Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa had announced last week that the government would conduct inquiry into all land dealings in the past 10 years in view of the allegations of his involvement in several land dealings made by the opposition parties.
As per the terms of reference the Commission of Inquiry will inquire into the illegalities in the matter of allotment of ‘G’ category sites by Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and denotification of land notified by BDA for acquisition The commission is also asked to enquire into the illegalities in the allotment of industrial sites made by KIADB and denotification of land notified by KIADB for acquisition.
Similarly, the commission is also asked to probe all illegalities in he matter of denotification of land notified by the KHB and denotification of land notified for the urban local bodies (ULBs) under the Land Acquisition Act. It will also fix responsibility on the persons responsible for such illegalities and also suggest remedial measures to prevent any illegalities in these matters.
The scope of inquiry by this Commission shall cover the period commencing from January 1, 1995 till the date of issue of this notification. Under Sub Section (1) of Section 5 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, the Government of Karnataka has directed that the provisions of Sub Section (2), (3) and (5) of the said Section shall apply to the said Commission.
