Karnataka has a chequered history when it comes to the denotification of lands by chief ministers. This starts from the CID indicting former chief ministers BS Yeddyurappa, HD Kumaraswamy and N Dharam Singh over the same issue from 2007 to 2012.
Present Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too has been accused of denotifying 541 acres of land in violation of the Karnataka High Court’s directions.
The state government has now taken away that discretionary power and handed it over to a committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary. A three-step procedure will be initiated in order to prevent “unilateral” decisions by chief ministers to denotify land.
B Basavaraju the Principal Secretary of the state Revenue Department told the Times of India,
All denotifications will henceforth have to be cleared by a high-level official committee headed by the additional chief secretary before it is placed before the state Cabinet for final approval.