BJP calls Kumaraswamy a chief minister out on bail

H. D. Kumaraswamy gestures to the gathering as he arrives to be sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka, in Bengaluru on Wednesday | AP [File] Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy | AP

Senior BJP leader B.J. Puttaswamy on Thursday alleged that the Devegowda family had a “PhD” in illegal land transfers and the chief minister was an accused in the Jantakal illegal mining case in Chitradurga and was out on bail.

Hours after Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy warned BJP state president B.S. Yeddyurappa of “reopening the cases” against him, if he tried to destabilise the coalition government, the state BJP slammed Kumaraswamy stating that he was “out on bail”.

READ: Are coalition woes weighing down Kumaraswamy?

“Kumaraswamy has sold mining license to Jantakal company and the case is before the Supreme Court. The chief minister is out on bail in the case. If you had been denied bail, you would have been in jail. In 1985, the mining license of Jantakal had expired. All chief ministers including Dharam Singh had refused to renew the license citing forgery by the company (pertaining to environmental clearance). But Kumaraswamy who came to power in 2004 issued a 40-year license without any valid documents. Interestingly, the license was renewed retrospectively since from 1985 (till 2025). Such an act is unprecedented in the history of Karnataka. Shockingly, the company seeked permission to export 1.17 lakh metric tonnes the very next day after the license renewal. The GPA holder (of the company) is an underworld don Vinod Goyal, who was penalised by the apex court for forging environmental clearance certificate. There were also media reports of Goyal being penalised by Pakistan too for supplying substandard iron ore,” said Puttaswamy.

Citing cases of alleged land grabbing by the chief minister's family, Puttaswamy said, “You (Kumaraswamy) secured bail in the Thanisandra land denotification case too. There are many such cases. In Sai Venkateshwara Enterprises case, 546 acres of surrendered land has been transferred illegally and the case is pending before the apex court. Kumaraswamy is out on bail even in this case. What moral right does Kumaraswamy have to accuse Yeddyurappa, who has been acquitted by the courts?”

Referring to the allegation made by former minister A. Manju from Hassan, Puttaswamy said there were serious land grabbing charges against chief minister's brother H.D. Revanna. “Here, the land is first registered in the name of a landless person and later transferred to Revanna's son Prajwal. The Devegowda family has a PhD in government land grabbing by creating new laws. In Holenarsipura, around 82 acres of land has been grabbed by citing the family members as landless and then tranfering to other members. A report by divisional commissioner Shanthakumari states that it is a daylight robbery involving Devegowda family. In Ketaganahalli in Ramanagara, around 46 acres of land allocated to SC/ST has been grabbed too. I will send the documents pertaining to my claims to Kumaraswamy,” said Puttaswamy.