'I don't know of those rules'

S M Shankar, younger brother of former chief minister S M Krishna, is among the many politically influential people who got expensive sites almost free from the Viswabharathi House Building Society.

Records with MiD DAY show him as the owner of Site No 15, measuring 60 x 40 ft in Girinagar I Phase.

On paper, he has paid Rs 6 lakh, while the market value of the site is more than Rs 1 crore. He received the housing site on June 27, 2003, when his brother Krishna was chief minister.

A court order lays down that sites in the layout should be given only to members, and on the basis of their seniority. Shankar is not a member.

"I don't know about those rules," said Shankar. "Somebody from the society came and said they would give me a site. I agreed and signed the papers."

Interestingly, Shankar has not seen his site to this day. "I again called them last week to find out," he told MiD DAY. "They said it was the one in front of the park, but they aren't taking me there."

B Krishna Bhat, chairman of the housing society, said he could not confirm the allotment to Shankar.

Admitting he had gifted a big site to Anitha Kumaraswamy, wife of former chief minister Kumaraswamy, he said, "Maybe Shankar also got a site, but I don't have the details now. I have to look up our records."

Shankar said it was possible Krishna Bhat had forgotten about the allotment. "Of late, it is Manjunath who looks after the society. The last time I called I spoke to Manjunath, and and he promised to show me the site."

Angry

Many society members have been waiting for years for their sites, and are angry that the society is busy gifting away precious real estate to VIPs who really don't need it.

"The society does all this to please the powerful," said K P Ranganth, a member who has filed a police complaint against the society.

Krishna Bhat admits politicians need to be appeased before they do anything. "We know the sites are meant for the members, but at the same time we have to offer something to people who help us," he said. "Otherwise we could not have built the society."