Officials illegally allotted land to Infosys in Hubballi: Horatti

BENGALURU: The legislative council's assurance committee held that allocation of the 43-acre land to IT major Infosys near Hubballi airport was against the law, and the government should act against officials responsible for it.
Committee chairman Basvaraj Horatti said on Friday that the infrastructure development department had acquired 707 acres for the airport upgrade as against the actual requirement of 587 acres through the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB).

After realizing that excess land had been acquired, KIADB, instead of giving it back to the owners, allotted 43 acres to Infosys, 12 acres to Deshpande Foundation and 2 acres to Ananth Residency to build a hotel. "This is against the law. KIADB should have returned the land to the owners. The committee feels action should be taken against officials concerned," Horatti said.

According to him, there are hundreds of cases where officials have committed grave mistakes but no action has been being taken.

He said an inquiry into irregularities to the tune of Rs 3.2 crore in implementation of Ravuthanahalli minor irrigation project in Kanakapura is on since 1994. "Officials could not trace the addresses of staffers involved though they have been getting pension every month," he added. tnn