No action or inquiry even 10 months after activist’s Lokayukta complaint

Mysore/Mysuru: As the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam unravels in various forms in front of the public, increasingly shocking revelations emerge.

The latest finding exposes that over 30 sites were illegally allotted within one month to a high-profile real estate businessman in prestigious areas of Mysuru city. Despite a complaint lodged with the Lokayukta by a social activist 10 months ago, no investigation or inquiries have yet been conducted. In collusion with a real estate businessman, MUDA officials illegally allocated sites valued at crores of rupees, resulting in a loss of over Rs. 300 crore to both MUDA and the State Exchequer.

Social activist K. Krishna, a resident of Kuvempunagar, who complained with the Lokayukta’s Head Office in Bengaluru on Oct. 11, 2023, alleges that officials personally profited from the scam.

The complaint calls for legal action against former MUDA Commissioner G.T. Dinesh Kumar, Special Tahsildar Shivakumar, Additional District Registrar Kavya, real estate businessman N. Manjunath and other implicated MUDA members, officials and employees.

“Thousands of people, including myself, have applied to MUDA for sites, paid the required fees and have been waiting for decades for allotment based on seniority. Meanwhile, corruption within MUDA has soared. Just like wolves guarding the sheep, MUDA officials, in collusion with real estate businessmen, are flouting the Karnataka Urban Development Authority Act and regulations to reap illegal profits,” Krishna stated in his complaint.

Blatant corruption

Documents submitted by Krishna reveal that former MUDA Commissioner G.T. Dinesh Kumar, who held the position at the time of the complaint, unlawfully approved hundreds of sites for real estate businessman Manjunath.

Special Tahsildar Shivakumar and Additional District Registrar Kavya also unlawfully registered more than 25 site sale deeds in Manjunath’s name on April 5, April 6, April 18 and April 19, 2023.

Misuse of HC order

It has been uncovered that all these sale deeds falsely stated that the sites were approved according to the High Court’s (HC) order in Writ Petition No. 25130/2022 dated Dec. 15, 2022.

The original petitioners in this case were Shivamma, M.N. Shobha, Rajashekhar and Pradeep Kumar. N. Manjunath, acting as their General Power of Attorney (GPA) representative, filed a Writ Petition requesting the High Court to direct MUDA to address the petitioners’ earlier applications.

In response, the High Court instructed MUDA authorities to take appropriate action within three weeks, in accordance with the law. However, the Court did not mandate that the sites be directly allotted to the GPA representative, Manjunath.

Despite this, Krishna’s complaint alleges that the High Court’s order was used as a pretext to unlawfully allot the sites directly to Manjunath.

Not a land-loser, yet got sites

According to Rule 2(c) of the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities (Allotment of Sites as Compensation for Land Acquisition) Rules, 2009, individuals who hold ownership rights over land on the day they enter into an agreement with MUDA during the land acquisition process for layout formation are considered ‘landowners.’

Despite Manjunath not losing any land for MUDA’s layout development, he, as a General Power of Attorney (GPA) representative, was unlawfully allotted hundreds of sites by MUDA officials. Additionally, the complaint alleges that Manjunath’s GPA representative status was deliberately concealed during the issuance of allotment letters and the registration of sale deeds.

Prestigious layouts

Manjunath was allotted 30×40, 40×60 and 50×80 feet sites in Mysuru’s prestigious Dattagalli and Vijayanagar layouts, which were developed by MUDA three decades ago. Each of these sites has a market value exceeding Rs. 1 crore.

However, MUDA officials reportedly set the price at just Rs. 3,000 per site and are alleged to have received kickbacks from Manjunath in return, according to the accusations.

Deception & concealment

Krishna alleged in his complaint that not only MUDA officials but also Additional District Registrar Kavya were involved in the illegal activities, concealing that Manjunath was merely a GPA representative.

The officials fraudulently devalued the sites and directly registered the sale deeds in Manjunath’s name. If these sites had been legally purchased from the rightful allottees, Manjunath would have been required to pay a stamp duty of Rs. 4 crore to Rs. 5 crore to the Government.

Instead, Additional District Registrar Kavya’s actions resulted in significant financial loss to the Govt. and this was done for personal gain, Krishna alleged.

The sale deeds fail to mention the landowners’ names or the details of the land acquired, which is a clear violation of Rule 3 and Form-2 of the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities (Allotment of Sites as Compensation for Land Acquisition) Rules, 2009, he stated.

Sites should be reclaimed

This constitutes a serious criminal offence, according to the complaint. To prevent further illegal activities, the complaint demands that the unlawfully allotted sites be immediately reclaimed by the Government. MUDA should be directed to reallocate these sites to deserving applicants.

In his complaint to the Lokayukta, Krishna has requested that an FIR be filed against the officials involved in the illegal allotment of sites to real estate businessman Manjunath, who is alleged to have profited crores of rupees through these illegal transactions.

No fear of Lokayukta: Sites allotted even after complaint lodged with anti-corruption body

Social activist K. Krishna lodged a complaint with the Lokayukta on October 11, 2023. On July 25, 2024, the complaint was forwarded from the Assistant Registrar of Legal Opinion (ARLO-2) to the Deputy Registrar of Enquiries (DRE-1).

Despite the complaint being filed, G.T. Dinesh Kumar, the MUDA Commissioner at the time, approved five additional sites for real estate businessman N. Manjunath. Furthermore, during Commissioner Dr. D.B. Natesh’s tenure, four sites  were allotted to Manjunath in 2021.

Leveraging the High Court’s order — which mandated action according to legal provisions — over 23 sites were unlawfully allotted to the real estate businessman, leading to embezzlement of crores of rupees. The blatant disregard for laws and regulations underscores the depth of their influence.

The affected parties lament that had the Lokayukta taken the complaint seriously and acted promptly, these illegal activities could have been halted ten months ago.