Writ petition in High Court; Ex-MUDA Commissioner in the dock again

Mysuru: A case of illegal site allocation by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) has surfaced, involving former MUDA Commissioner G.T. Dinesh Kumar, raising serious concerns about transparency and accountability.

The issue, now before the High Court, concerns the unauthorised allocation of 11 sites, worth crores of rupees, to an individual for land that originally belonged to someone else.

A person, who claimed ownership of a parcel of land at Kyathamaranahalli, Mysuru, filed a petition in the Civil Court, which was dismissed. However, the individual appealed to the Assistant Commissioner’s Court.

Following the Assistant Commissioner’s instructions, the Tahsildar took up the case, but without conducting a thorough investigation, records were created in the name of the individual, who is not the legitimate land owner. The dispute over this later reached the Assistant Commissioner’s Court, which is still pending.

Despite this, citing a Supreme Court ruling related to a similar case in another State, Dinesh Kumar approved the allocation of sites. Without considering the true ownership of the land, he sanctioned 11 sites worth crores of rupees to an individual who was not the legitimate land owner.

Details of the case

A 2.18-acre land in Survey No. 155 at Kyathamaranahalli out of the total 4.36-acre land belonging to Shivachikkaiah was acquired by MUDA for residential purposes on June 9, 1992. MUDA later sanctioned 3 developed sites and handed over the compensation money to Shivachikkaiah.

The remaining 2.18 acres of land was still in Shivachikkaiah’s possession. Meanwhile, Kodandaiah and his children, K. Chandru and K. Mohan Kumar, filed a claim in the Mysuru Civil Court, stating that the land at Kyathamaranahalli Survey No. 155 belonged to them.

However, on Oct. 27, 2009, the Court dismissed their claim, affirming that the land did not belong to Kodandaiah and his family.

Challenging this, Kodandaiah filed a claim regarding the same land in the Assistant Commissioner’s Court. The Assistant Commissioner’s Court then directed the Mysuru Tahsildar on Aug. 27, 2012, to thoroughly review the revenue records and issue orders in accordance with the rules and law.

Tahsildar’s orders

Meanwhile, Shivachikkaiah passed away on Aug. 8, 2016. Shortly after, Kodandaiah also passed away. Strangely, seven years after Shivachikkaiah’s death, the then Mysuru Tahsildar, in an inquiry conducted on June 6 and July 11, 2023, stated that Shivachikkaiah (who had passed away seven years ago) was present during the inquiry at the Tahsildar’s Court.

Hearing the case, the Tahsildar recorded in the RTC that the 2-acre, 18-gunta land in Survey No. 156 of Kyathamaranahalli was acquired by MUDA. Furthermore, the remaining 2-acre, 18-guntas of land was recorded as belonging to Girya Bovi, son of Chinna Bovi and an order was issued on Oct. 17, 2023.

Issue reaches Assistant Commissioner

Challenging this, Shivachikkaiah’s son Keshavamurthy filed an appeal against the Tahsildar’s order in the Assistant Commissioner’s Court and the case is still under inquiry.

Despite the pending status of the case in the Assistant Commissioner’s Court regarding this particular land, former MUDA Commissioner Dinesh Kumar, disregarding all proceedings, cited that 1 acre and 37 guntas of land in the same survey number has been acquired by MUDA without following the formal land acquisition process.

The Commissioner then approved the allotment of 11 sites, worth crores of rupees (totalling 22,640 square feet), in Vijayanagar Fourth Stage, Second Phase to K. Chandru, son of late Kodandaiah.

Writ Petition in High Court

As soon as this issue came to light, Keshavamurthy, son of late Shivachikkaiah, filed a Writ Petition in the Karnataka High Court questioning the MUDA approval of 11 sites to K. Chandru, who was not the actual land owner.

The High Court accepted the Writ Petition for hearing and on Aug. 28, 2024, issued an interim order restraining K. Chandru from entering or accessing the property until further notice, postponing the case for further hearing.

In this context, Keshavamurthy submitted a representation letter to the MUDA Commissioner on Sept. 5, 2024 requesting that no transactions, changes in office records, or other orders be made regarding the 2 acres and 18 guntas of land in Survey No. 155 at Kyathamaranahalli, which is part of the original 4 acres and 36 guntas of land.