HC quashes Lokayukta proceedings against ex-Karna minister,son

The Karnataka High Court today quashed proceedings against former minister and senior BJP leader Katta Subramanya Naidu and eight others, including his son, in the Lokayukta court in connection with an alleged land scam.
Justice Anand Byrareddy quashed the proceedings on the grounds that the names of the accused, including ITASCA software firm owned by an associate of Naidus, were not mentioned in the charge sheet.
The judge said "the theory of conspiracy has no foundation and cannot be sustained against any of theaccused."
Naidu and eight others had filed a petition in the high court after Lokayukta court judge N KSundhindra Rao on April 29, 2013, had dismissed theirapplications.

The accused had sought discharge from Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) land scam case.
On December 3, 2010, Naidu as the then IT minister, had resigned over the alleged multi-crore KIADB land scam.

His resignation had come a day after the Lokayukta filed a police complaint against him, his Bangalore corporator son Katta Jagadish Naidu and others over alleged illegal allotment of 325 acres on city outskirts to a software firm.
The two were slapped with charges of forgery, cheating, creating false documents, floating fictitious companies and taking compensation from a government agency for lands that did not belong to them.

The allotment took place in 2006-07 when Naidu was Industries Minister in the Janata Dal-Secular-BJP coalition government.
KIADB is the government agency that acquires land for industrial and infrastructure purposes.
The eight others named in the complaint include Naidus business associates and officials of KIADB.
The alleged illegal action of Naidu and his son came to the fore when Lokayukta was probing payment of compensation by KIADB for lands it had acquired at Bandikodigehalli, near the new Bangalore international airport, about 35 km from the city centre.
The land, worth over Rs 100 crore, was allotted to ITASCA software firm owned by an associate of Naidus.

Apart from charges of the Naidus receiving Rs 87 crore in bribes to get the land allotted to ITASCA, Jagadish was also accused of taking a compensation of Rs four crore from KIADB for a piece of land in the area though it did not belong to him.
Three Karnataka Administrative Service officers were arrested for doling out the compensation to Jagadish.
Naidu and his son are currently on bail.