Just a day after the Pattandur Agrahara Resident Welfare Association filed a petition before the Karnataka High Court seeking directions to save the Pattandur Agrahara Lake in Whitefield, the state government has filed a petition alleging fraud.
The Karnataka government, on Tuesday moved the High Court alleging that HB Munivenkatappa had fraudulently converted government land to private property to encroach on the lake.
On Monday, the Pattandur Agrahara Resident Welfare Association hand filed a PIL seeking the removal of encroachments on the lake bed area.
The lake, spread across 13 acres, dates back to the age of the Cholas and old maps revealed that Rajendra Chola built it in 1043 AD to mark the anniversary of his dynasty.
The PIL had alleged that the state is bound to safeguard the lake and it had failed in its duty and that the lake property had been changed from government property to a private property.
“The state government admitted before the court that the property was indeed a lake bed. The change in records was done at the behest of the high court in a contempt of court petition filed by the encroacher, based on the order managed by the encroacher using bogus records,” said Sandeep Anirudhan, who spearheaded the movement.
However, the state government on Monday, had argued that there was fraud in the case and the law had been violated. “It is our duty to save the lakes, we will save the lakes. Leave it to us,” the court had observed.
In view of this alleged fraud, the state government on Tuesday filed a writ petition with the High Court alleging that a man named HB Munivenkatappa had fraudulently encroached on the land.
“Munivenkatappa himself was the serial encroacher with multiple cases against him for encroaching government lands. He is dead now. His heirs are trying to pursue the case now,” said a member of the Pattandur Agrahara Resident Welfare Association.