Anchor:
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the BJP State President, has sold o8 Karnataka governments
land. He has sold o8 175 acres of Government land and committed a theft of Rupees 313
Crores. The Government has awarded the agricultural land to BPL for industrial purpose.
Reporter Exclusive.
Adv K N Jagadeesh Kumar has approached the Supreme Court and High Court of
Karnataka with a complaint. The Complainant seeks action to sieze the land and also
requested a probe by a Special Investigation Team. Complainant also alleges there is a
threat to his life.
Joining with us now are our Correspondents T V Prasad, R Roshipal and Sai Kumar.
Prasad, are we hearing about a big fraud? The information that is coming out is not about
a small amount. The amount is Rupees 500 Crores! What are the details of the complaint
Prasad?
T V Prasad:
This complaint is about one of the biggest land frauds in Karnataka. We all know that
Rajeev Chandrasekhar was the owner of the BPL Company in Karnataka. It is the
Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board that allots land to various companies to
start industrial establishments. This is the land given on lease by the government. The
land is acquired from the farmers and given on lease to companies. The BPL company
has taken 175 acres of land from the government to start industrial units that produce
television sets, tubes and batteries. It was leased on in 1999. But, the company never
started operations.
The sabotage happened afterwards. One acre of land that was bought for 1.1 lakh rupees
from farmers was resold for crores. In 2011 alone, 87 acres of land was sold by Rajeev
Chandrasekhar's company to Maruti Suzuki. The landwas sold for Rs. 275 crores. In
another deal, the Jindal Company was given 25 acres of land for Rs. 33.5 Crores. In
addition, there were many other small deals, alleges the complainant. In total, the
government land obtained on lease was resold for Rs. 313.9 Crores by the company
owned by Rajeev Chandrasekhar who is the state president of BJP.
This complaint has been submitted to the Chief Minister of Karnataka. It has also been
submitted to the Chief Justice of India, CBI and all investigative agencies including ED.
The complainant’s demand is for the probe by a special investigation team.
We also understand that large scale land fraud was committed in Karnataka during the
regime of BJP government. The allegation against Rajeev Chandrasekhar is about the land
fraud for Rs 313.9 crores.
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Anchor:
The complainant is alleging a land fraud to the tune of Rs 500 crores. But in our
investigation, we could establish deals worth over Rs 300 crores. Isn’t it so? Could we find
an accurate amount?
T V Prasad:
The complainant’ allegation of Rs 500 crores is an approximate sum. If we calculate the
entire deal, it may come up to Rs. 500 crores or above. The company was given 175 acres
of land on lease. Out of that, when they sold 85 acres of land to Maruti Suzuki, they got
Rs 275 crores. That means, the worth of 175 acres will be around Rs. 550 Cr. But, based
on the records with us, we can conclude that the fraud is to the tune of Rs. 313.9 Cr. We
are not sure whether the lawyer has more details to establish the complaint. But the
complainant lawyer claims in the complaint that it is worth 500 crores. When we examine
the documents with us, it can be concluded that the deal will be for more than Rs. 500
Cr. Then, there is another serious aspect. We need to conclude that it was a serious case
of corruption committed in connivance with the minister of the then BJP government. We
know Rajeev Chandrasekhar was an influential figure in Karnataka at that time. He later
became a Rajya Sabha member representing BJP.
The government bought the land from farmers for a small sum for helping
Rajeev Chandrasekhar constructing an industrial unit. He resold the land and made
several crores. He was cheating the government and the people. The complainant says
no factory was constructed.
The complaint was filed in October. The state is now ruled by the Congress, not BJP. So,
we can expect further action. If there is a proper enquiry, more severe details will come
out. If so much money could be minted from 175 acres, what could have been the extend
of the scam?
Anchor:
Land fraud that has now been revealed is to the extent of 175 acres. The fraud was
committed by previous BJP government and Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Moving to Roshipal;
Roshipal, how should we evaluate the nature of the fraud? BPL company was owned by
Rajeev Chandrasekhar's wife father. Earlier, there were some allegations against Rajeev
Chandrasekhar related to the company. Now, there are allegations related to the
purchase of the land and how the land was resold. It happened in 1999. Why there has
not been a complaint so far?
Roshipal:
Smrithi, K N Jagadish had earlier submitted complaints to the Karnataka Chief Minister
and the Revenue Minister. The complaint has now been submitted to the Supreme Court
as there was no action. The land was allotted to Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s company by the
Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board. The plot was located in Dabaspet. The
land was given on lease to Rajeev Chandrasekhar. He later resold the land, alleges the
complainant.
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The rule of the board is that the land has to be taken back if there is no industrial activity
in three years since acquisition. All those rules were breached by Rajeev Chandrasekhar
who resold 175 acres of land to make crores. The government has su8ered a huge loss.
The allegations are also against the then minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, who was in
charge of the department concerned. Jagadish alleges that both of them connived to
commit the fraud. The government acquired land in large scale with the hope of creation
of jobs and earning considerable revenue to the stand. The purpose of handing over the
acquired land to companies for a nominal price is that. The land acquired in this manner
was resold for crores.
The government has su8ered a great loss. Katta Subramanya Naidu, was the minister
incharge when the land was sold is also named as an accomplice in the complaint. When
the land was allotted it was expected that there would be revenue accruing to the
Government and people would get employment. That is why land was acquired from
farmers at low prices and handed over to Companies. The land acquired in this manner
was sold for crores.