Chamarajanagar: A court has ordered the seizure of over 40 acres of land and a resort acquired illegally by BJP leader and former MLC G Madhusudhana. The order passed by the Bengaluru Regional Commissioner’s (RC) Court on February 20 had observed that the leader had purchased the land in violation of Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Act 1995. The order also found that the RTCs submitted to acquire the land were fake.
It is learnt that the BJP leader had bought 24 acres of land in his name claiming that he was a farmer and another 40 acres in the name of his wife’s aunt, T L Jayalaxmi under different survey numbers at Mangala village in Chamarajanagar. Madhusudhan built a resort named Tiger Ranch by converting it instead of using it for agriculture.
Objections were raised by the forest department in three courts on the grounds that the resort built by the leader came under Kaniyanapura Elephant Corridor which is adjacent to Bandipur forest and also that it is a deemed forest. Regional Commissioner M V Jayanthi who heard the petition by the forest department nullified the purchase of the entire land by the BJP leader and his relative since they were not qualified to it.
The leader while purchasing the land claimed to be a farmer and an RTC holder who owned 20 guntas of land in Nanjangud taluk. However, the court order stated that the land purchased by the defendant was a grazing land measuring 2.03 acres and not 20 guntas as claimed by the petitioner. The RTC produced by the leader also was found to be fake and the Divisional Assistant Commissioner himself had exerted pressure on the village accountant to create fake documents in Madhusudhana’s defence.
Though the Assistant Commissioner concerned had stated that when the leader purchased the land his non-agricultural income was less than Rs 50,000 (eligible to purchase land), in the court he could not prove how Madhusudhana would afford the land with his “farmer’s income.
