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- 1 - IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 19 TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 2016 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MRS.JUSTICE RATHNAKALA CRIMINAL PETITION NO.4290/2012 BETWEEN: 1. M.R.RAMESH S/O MR.RAMANNA AGED ABOUT 66 YEARS RESIDING AT 456, RAMESH NJRSERY, BANNERGHATTA ROAD 4TH KOTHANUR CROSS AREKERE VILLAGE, IIM POST BANGALORE – 560 076. 2. M.R.SATISH S/O M.R.RAMESH AGED ABOUT 40 YEARS RESIDING AT 456, RAMESH NJRSERY, BANNERGHATTA ROAD 4TH KOTHANUR CROSS AREKERE VILLAGE, IIM POST BANGALORE – 560 076. 3. M.R.RAVI S/O M.R.RAMESH AGED ABOUT 38 YEARS RESIDING AT 456, RAMESH NJRSERY, BANNERGHATTA ROAD 4TH KOTHANUR CROSS AREKERE VILLAGE, IIM POST BANGALORE – 560 076. …PETITIONERS (BY SRI UDAYA HOLLA, SR. ADV. FOR SRI VIJAY KUMAR DESAI, ADV. FOR J.SAGAR ASSOCIATES, ADVS.) - 2 - AND: 1. SRI C.LAKSHMINARAYANA S/O LATE CHOWDAPPA AGED ABOUT 45 YEARS R/O-219, CHOWDESHWARI NILAYA HULIMAVU VILLAGE BANNERGHATTA ROAD BANGALORE – 560 076. 2. SRI P.BHUPESH REDDY SON OF JAYARAMA REDDY AGED ABOUT 40 YEARS DIRECTOR M/S J.R.ENTERPRISES FLAT NO.1, SJR PRIMES 7TH AND 8 TH FLOOR INDUSTRIAL AREA 7TH BLOCK KORAMANGALA BANGALORE – 560 095. 3. SRI J.VIJAY REDDY SON OF JAYARAMA REDDY AGED ABOUT 38 YEARS DIRECTOR M/S J.R.ENTERPRISES FLAT NO.1, SJR PRIMES 7TH AND 8 TH FLOOR INDUSTRIAL AREA 7TH BLOCK KORAMANGALA BANGALORE – 560 095. 4. SRI G.S.NAYAK AGED ABOUT 50 YEARS SPECIAL DEPUTY COMMISSIONER BANGALORE URBAN DISTRICT BANGALORE. 5. SRI SIDDAIAH AGED ABOUT 59 YEARS PRINCIPAL SECRETARY HIGHER EDUCATION M.S.BUILDING BANGALORE - 3 - 6. SRI BHARATH LAL MEENA AGED ABOUT 55 YEARS COMMISSIONER BANGALORE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY T.CHOWDAIAH ROAD BANGALORE 7. SRI SUBHIR HARI SINGH AGED MAJOR THE THEN CHAIRMAN BANGALORE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY T.CHOWDAIAH ROAD BANGALORE. 8. SRI THIRAKANAGOWDA AGED ABOUT 54 YEARS TOWN PLANNING MEMBER BANGALORE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY T.CHOWDAIAH ROAD BANGALORE. 9. SRI M.V.VEERABHADRAIAH AGED ABOUT 58 YEARS THE THEN DEPUTY COMMISSIONER (LAND ACQUISITION) BDA T.CHOWDAIAH ROAD BANGALORE. 10. SRI M.V.VEERABHADRAIAH AGED ABOUT 58 YEARS THE THEN DEPUTY COMMISSIONER (LAND ACQUISITION) BDA T.CHOWDAIAH ROAD BANGALORE. 11. SRI SOSALE INDUDAR AGED MAJOR LAW OFFICER, BDA RESIDING AT NO.8, 1 ST FLOOR 15 TH CROSS, J.P.NAGAR, 5TH PHASE, BANGALORE - 4 - 12. SRI YASHODARA AGED MAJOR THE THEN SENIOR SUB REGISTRAR BOMMANAHALLI PRESENTLY WORKING AS INCHARGE DRO RURAL, RAJAJINAGAR BANGALORE. 13. SRI RAMEGOWDA THE THEN SPECIAL DC BANGALORE DISTRICT PRESENTLY PERSONAL SECRETARY TO HOME MINISTER GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA VIDHANA SOUDHA BANGALORE – 1 14. THE STATE BY LOKAYUKTA POLICE M.S.BUILDING, DR.B.R.AMBEDKAR ROAD BANGALORE – 560 001. ...RESPONDENTS (BY SRI M.R.VIJAY KUMAR, ADV. FOR R1; SRI NAVAKESH BATRA FOR SRI JANEKERE C.KRISHNA, ADV. FOR R2 & R3; SRI R.NAGENDRA NAIK, ADV. FOR R4; R5 – SERVED AND U REPRESENTED; SMT.KUSUMA R.PRASAD FOR SRI L.M.CHIDANANDAYYA, ADV. FOR R6, R7, R8 AND R13; SRI SACHIN V.R., ADV. FOR R9; SRI V.Y.KUMAR, ADV. FOR R10; R11 – SERVED AND UNREPRESENTED; SRI M.S.BHAGWAT, ADV. FOR R12; SRI VENKATESH P.DALWAI, SPL.PP FOR R14) THIS CRIMINAL PETITION IS FILED UNDER SECTION 482 OF CR.P.C., PRAYING TO QUASH THE COMPLAINT AND ENTIRE PROCEEDINGS IN THE PCR NO.8/2012 AND CONSEQUENTLY QUASH THE F.I.R. IN CR.NO.18/2012 FILED BY THE RESPONDENT NO.1 IN PCR NO.8/2012 ON THE FILE OF THE XXIII ADDITIONAL CITY CIVIL AND SPECIAL JUDGE, PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION ACT, BANGALORE URBAN DISTRICT, BANGALORE. - 5 - THIS CRIMINAL PETITION HAVING BEEN HEARD AND RESERVED FOR ORDERS ON 04/02/2016 AND COMING ON FOR PRONOUNCEMENT OF ORDERS THIS DAY, THE COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING:- O R D E R The petitioners are aggrieved by the registration of FIR against them in Crime No.18/2012 in respect of the offence punishable under Sections 120B, 468 and 471 of IPC and Sections 13(1)(d), 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (for short, ‘the Act’), in pursuance of the order of reference passed by the Special Court on the private complaint of Respondent No.1. 2. The essence of the complaint allegation is, the lands in Sy.No.100/P1, 101/1 and 103 of Arekere Village, Begur Hobli, Bangalore South Taluk, were acquired for the purpose of formation of 9 th Phase, J.P.Nagar, Bangalore, vide Gazette Notification dated 22.7.1991. Accused Nos.11 to 13 claiming to be the previous owners of the said land, entered into Joint Development Agreement with 1 st accused/Company. - 6 - Accused Nos.2 and 3 are the Directors of accused No.1. The first accused sought for de-notification of the land on the pretext of maintaining Nursery and greenery and the land was de-notified subject to condition that he maintains the land as Nursery only; with liberty to the Bangalore Development Authority to acquire the land for its scheme in the event of violation of condition. Accused Nos.4 to 11 and 14 being the public servants joined hand with accused No.1 and changed the nature of the land, though it was not permissible to get the land converted for non-agricultural purpose. 20 guntas of land was converted for extraneous reason ignoring the legal formalities. Layout plan was approved. There is indiscriminate sanction and approval to allow Apartments to come up. The co-accused, who were the public servants, working as the Special Deputy Commissioner, the then Commissioner, the then Chairman, the then Town Planning Member, the then Deputy Commissioner (Land Acquisition) of Bangalore - 7 - Development Authority, have played decisive roles to get the land approved by suppressing the facts. Though relevant and true facts were brought to the notice of the concerned authorities, no action is taken. 3. Sri. Uday Holla, learned Senior Advocate, on behalf of Sri.Vijay Kumar Desai, learned counsel for petitioners submits that the petitioner Nos.2 and 3/accused Nos.13 and 14 are the sons of petitioner No.1/accused No.12. They have remarkable standing in the world of business, community service and philanthropy. They are the owners of converted land measuring 7 acres 29 guntas, in Sy. No.100/P1, 101/1 and 103 of Arekere Village, Begur Hobli, Bangalore South Taluk, having purchased the same for valuable consideration under the registered sale deed dated 31.12.1980 and 06.06.1983. Out of the said land, 7 acres 3 guntas was acquired under Notification, dated 22.07.1991 under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, - 8 - 1894 for BDA’s 9 th Stage, J.P. Nagar Scheme. No further proceedings were taken and possession of the lands was never disturbed. Instead, in exercise of power under Section 48(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, the entire extent of 7 acres 3 guntas acquired was withdrawn from the acquisition with a condition that it shall be maintained as a Nursery which the petitioners were doing since 1980. In the event of violation of condition to maintain a Nursery, liberty was reserved to the BDA to acquire the land for its 9 th Stage, J.P. Nagar Scheme. A Notification, dated 26.08.1996, was issued for withdrawing the acquired 7 acres 3 guntas from acquisition. Accordingly, for a period of 10 years, the petitioners continued to maintain a Nursery till 2006. The said lands were classified as residential in the CDP 1995 and also in the latest Master Plan-CDP/RMP 2015. There was incongruity between the classification in the CDP/RMP 2015 and in the condition imposed by the Government to maintain a Nursery. The BDA vide its - 9 - letter, dated 26.02.1996, recommended to the Government to classify the said land as Park Zone in conformity with the condition. The Government did not accede to the request/recommendation made by the BDA since it was residential area as per new CDP i.e. RMP 2015. In that view of matter, the petitioners had to use the land in question for residential purpose. The BDA de-notified several lands in Arekere Village unconditionally and imposing a condition on the petitioners’ land alone was illegal. Vide the BDA’s Planning Committee Report, dated 28.01.1999, it was recommended that lands in Arekere Village were dropped from the BDA’s 9 th Stage, J.P.Nagar Scheme, since it was fully developed area. The petitioners applied for conversion under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, to the extent of 7 acres 13 guntas from agricultural to non- agricultural purpose to fall in line with CDP/RMP 2015. The BDA allowed the application and granted its NOCs, dated 17.10.2006 and 14.01.2008, for conversion. The - 10 - Special Deputy Commissioner issued conversion order in respect of said land. The BDA has issued its sanction to the Development Plan, dated 17.03.2007 in respect of said land. However, the works order was withheld and kept in pending the production of conversion order in respect of 16 guntas. The petitioners decided to jointly develop the land only to the extent of 7 acres 1.67 guntas along with developer M/s. SJR Builders. Conversion order for 16 guntas was obtained on 05.02.2008 and the BDA issued its Modified Development Plan on 28.03.2008 and Works Order dated 06.03.2008 for lesser extent of 7 acres 1.67 guntas. The BBMP issued its Building License and Commencement Certificate on 04.11.2009. Now the lands are jointly developed in accordance with law and the Modified Development Plan, dated 28.03.2008.