Recently, the Karnataka High Court has declined to quash a criminal case against former Janata Dal (Secular) MLA Lingesh KS and others, accused of illegally regularising 2,750 acres of government land valued at Rs. 750 crore. Justice M Nagaprasanna, in a September 13 order, dismissed the petition filed by Lingesh and eight other members of the Bagair Hukum Saguvali Samiti, a committee responsible for overseeing the regulation of unauthorised cultivation on government land.
Lingesh, the former MLA from Belur constituency, is accused of irregularities in granting land to Bagair Hukum cultivators in Belur taluk, Hassan district, between 2016 and 2022. Allegedly, around 1,430 bogus beneficiaries received land during this period. The case was initiated following a complaint by an RTI activist, and a special court in Bengaluru ordered the registration of an FIR against Lingesh and several officials.
The High Court reviewed a 2022 report by the Deputy Commissioner of Hassan, which revealed that many of the land regularisations were based on handwritten ledger extracts, with most original applications and land records missing. Justice Nagaprasanna noted that 99% of the files lacked original documents, indicating severe irregularities. The Court concluded that the Bagair Hukum Committee had acted in violation of the law.