• Sites registered in the name of realtor, though he did not own any land that was acquired by MUDA
• Complaint with Lokayukta on Nov. 1, 2023, but no action; issue brought to PM Modi’s attention

Mysuru: A real estate entrepreneur has been illegally allotted 23 sites worth crores of rupees for just Rs. 3,000, though he did not own any land acquired to form layouts. The allotment was made through forged documents via a sale deed by former MUDA Commissioner G.T. Dinesh Kumar.

This has been brought to light by city-based advocate V. Ravikumar, who has now written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the issue. Social activist K. Krishna from Mysuru filed a complaint with the Lokayukta Police regarding this corruption on Nov. 1, 2023, but even after a year, no action has been taken.

Krishna highlighted that Additional Sub-Registrar Kavya caused a loss of crores of rupees to the State Government by registering sites worth crores of rupees for just Rs. 3,000 each, collecting a nominal registration fee of Rs. 600 per site.

Details of the case

According to the complaint filed with the Lokayukta, Dinesh Kumar, through MUDA Special Tahsildar Shivakumar, facilitated the registration of 23 premium sites measuring 30×40, 40×60, and 50×80 in Mysuru’s Vijayanagar and Dattagalli  Layouts, valued at crores of rupees, to real estate entrepreneur N. Manjunath.

The registrations occurred on April 5, 6, 18, and April 19, 2023. Each site, worth over Rs. 1 crore, was priced at just Rs. 3,000 by MUDA, the complaint stated.

Interestingly, Manjunath does not own any of the land acquired by MUDA during the construction of these layouts. Even the document used to register the sites in his favour does not mention any land lost by Manjunath.

Despite this, Manjunath, who did not lose any land to MUDA, was illegally allotted sites worth crores of rupees.

High Court Writ Petition

The registration of these sites references High Court Writ Petition No. 25130/2022, dated 15-12-2022, as the basis for approval. Strangely, the petitioners in this case are listed as Shivamma, M.N. Shobha, Rajasekhar, and Pradeep Kumar — and not Manjunath.

However, it is claimed that Manjunath acted as their General Power of Attorney (GPA)  representative.

Advocate Ravikumar analysed the Court order, pointing out that the Court only instructed MUDA authorities to make a legally appropriate decision within three weeks based on the petitioners’ plea. Nowhere does the order direct that sites be allotted as compensation to the petitioners or their GPA representative, Manjunath.

What does the rule say?

According to Rule 2(c) of the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities (Allotment of Sites in Compensation for Land Acquisition) Rules, 2009, a landowner must hold rights to the land on the date of entering into an agreement with the authority (MUDA) for acquisition.

In his complaint, Krishna has pointed out that Manjunath does not qualify as a landowner under this rule. Hence, allotting sites to him as compensation is illegal.

It is alleged that although Manjunath did not lose any land for MUDA layouts, officials illegally allotted sites in his name. Furthermore, during the approval and registration process, they deliberately concealed the information that Manjunath was acting as a GPA representative, according to the complaint.

Role of Additional District Sub-Registrar

In this case, not only MUDA officials but there is a clear involvement of Additional District Sub-Registrar Kavya. Despite being aware that Manjunath was not a landowner but merely a GPA representative, this fact was deliberately concealed during the registration process.

Although sites worth crores of rupees were illegally allotted to Manjunath for just Rs. 3,000 each, the registering authority failed to collect registration fees based on the actual value of the sites. Instead, Kavya charged only Rs. 600 per site, in clear violation of rules and causing a significant loss to the Government, the complaint stated.

The land allocation documents do not mention the landowner’s name or details of the land acquired. This raises a critical question: What land did Manjunath, a real estate entrepreneur, lose to MUDA for which he was compensated with 23 sites? Upon reviewing the documents, it appears that sites worth crores of rupees were allocated to Manjunath, Krishna stated.

Therefore, a thorough investigation should be conducted, and action should be taken against former MUDA Commissioner Dinesh Kumar, real estate entrepreneur Manjunath, and all officials concerned, stated the complaint filed by Krishna to the Lokayukta Police on Nov. 1, 2023. This complaint was referenced in a letter to PM Modi.