MUDA scam: Dark stain on Mysuru’s reputation

Mysuru: The Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) has in the past appropriated land for residential layouts without adhering to the legally mandated land acquisition procedures.

In response to this, sites in prestigious layouts valued at crores of rupees — estimated to be around 5,000 to 6,000 sites — were allocated to beneficiaries as compensatory land under the 50:50 ratio to those who have lost their lands to layout formation.

In the process, many unauthorised persons too have received multiple sites though they are not the genuine land owners, leading to a major scam in MUDA.  

Three investigative bodies — Enforcement Directorate (ED), Lokayukta and the One-Man Judicial Commission — have already launched investigations into this scam.

The State Government had formed the 50:50 incentive scheme, intended to allocate sites in parallel layouts to landowners who were not properly compensated during acquisition. However, citing this directive, sites in layouts developed by MUDA nearly three decades ago were distributed by previous Commissioners to various beneficiaries, flouting regulations.

Former MUDA Chairman K. Marigowda, who had to resign from his post, had pointed out that the allocation of sites under the 50:50 scheme was illegal.

He noted in an internal letter to the former MUDA Commissioner G.T. Dinesh Kumar: “This issue should be presented before the MUDA meeting for approval and then send it to the State Government for approval before proceeding with this process. You are required to submit records and information on the sites approved so far to my office and provide an explanation.”

A copy of this note was also sent by Marigowda to the Secretary of the Urban Development Department, exposing the massive corruption involved.

Extent of official misconduct

Additionally, the then Deputy Commissioner Dr. K.V. Rajendra, who served as MUDA’s in-charge Chairman, had also written to the Government multiple times highlighting the illegal distribution of MUDA sites and urged legal action against those responsible. This move revealed the extent of the misconduct.

In this context, the State Government formed a Technical Committee to review the issue, which subsequently submitted a report. The report revealed that the allocation of sites under the 50:50 scheme in MUDA was illegal.

Furthermore, another Probe Committee, led by senior IAS officer R. Venkatachalapathy, Commissioner of Urban Development Authorities and Town and Country Planning, visited Mysuru and examined records at the MUDA office for a week.

At the same time, the State Government established a One-Man Commission, headed by retired High Court Justice P.N. Desai, with an office at Bengaluru’s Kumara Krupa Guest House to conduct                                                    the investigation.

Probe by three agencies

Meanwhile, in response to complaints from RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna and others and following directives from the Governor, the High Court and the Special Court for Public Representatives, Lokayukta Mysuru SP T.J. Udesh registered an FIR and launched an investigation into the 14 sites allotted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife B.M. Parvathi.

The Enforcement Directorate has also taken up the investigation of this scam, carrying out raids on MUDA Office and the residences of certain officials and public representatives, while scrutinising records.

Summons are being issued one by one for appearance at the Bengaluru office of ED for questioning. The scale of the scandal is staggering, especially when considering the number of sites allocated under the 50:50 ratio scheme.

Of the 80,000 applicants — lifelong residents of Mysuru, who have spent 30 to 35 years dreaming of owning a home — 20 percent have passed away without seeing their dreams fulfilled. Meanwhile, MUDA, unable to provide shelter to ordinary citizens, has sanctioned 30, 40, 80 and even 100 sites to individuals in prestigious localities.

The scam has caused a significant black mark on its reputation due to several reasons including violation of legal procedures exposing MUDA’s disregard for legal norms. It has led to widespread corruption, injustice to genuine site applicants.

The cumulative effect of these factors has cast a shadow over MUDA’s integrity, positioning it as a symbol of bureaucratic and political corruption in Mysuru’s history.

List of persons receiving more than 10 sites 

Names of beneficiaries	Number of sites	Layout	In lieu of land in Village	Survey Number
Nagaraju and Srinivas, Bogadi	23	Vijayanagar Fourth Stage	Bogadi	170,171,172 Second Phase
Shivappa bin late Puttabasappa	13	Nachanahalli stage 1, 2	Nachanahalli	22/3
P. Mahadvu and Geetha	12	Nachanahalli stage 1 D-Block	Kyathamaranahalli	69/2
Abdul Wajid bin Peersaab	26	Nachanahalli stage 2	Belavatha	21
Syed Yusuf	21	Nachanahalli stage 1, 2	Veeranagere	85/1
Mallappa	19	Nachanahalli-Kuppaluru Third Stage C Block	Devanur	8/3B, C
Sureshamma	11	Nachanahalli-Kuppaluru Third Stage B Block	Devanur	72
Rev. Fr. Staney D’Almeida Secretary of Cathedral Parish Society	23	Nachanahalli-Kuppaluru Third Stage A Zone	Devanur	180,181, 182
Syed Nusruth Afza Syed Shakeer Ur Ahmed	25	J.P. Nagar First Stage A-Block, Vijayanagar Fourth Stage, Second Phase	Kyathamaranahalli	5
S.V. Venkatappa	14	Srirampura Third Stage	Srirampura	92/3, 92/4 and others
Alanahalli Housing Cooperative Society	10	Srirampura Third Stage	Srirampura	222/1, 21/2
Mahendra Gungral Chatra	21	Vijayanagar Third Stage, B and C Block	Devanur	81/2
B.M. Parvathi kom Siddaramaiah, No. 206, 166 Cross Vijayanagar, Bengaluru	14	Vijayanagar Second, Third and Fourth Stages	Kesare	464
M.B. Srinivas	10	Vijayanagar Third Stage A-1 Block	Hinkal	206/1B
Mary Jose and Jose Kurien, Siddapura, Maldare, Kodagu	10	Vijayanagar Fourth Stage	Hinkal	220/4, 226/A
Sarojamma, No. 4, Doddagarudi Road Ambedkar Colony, Kyathamaranahalli, Mysuru	10	Vijayanagar Fourth Stage, Second Phase	Devanur	216/1
Deepu Rajendra bin late Rajendra Sharma, Mudigunda, Kollegal Taluk	14	Vijayanagar Second Stage,	Kurubarahalli	Fourth Block 61/1
Neelamma bin late Madappa Manjesh bin late Shivananjappa, Basavanna bin Basavanna, Suttur Main Road, Varuna Hobli	17	Devanur Third Stage	Kesare	446, 450, 457
A.P. Shivaprasad and B.R. Vishnu Ms S&V Industries KRS Road, Metagalli	24	Lalithadrinagar North	Metagalli Industrial Layout
P.Santhosh Kumar, near Manchamma Temple,Metagalli	18	Lalithadrinagar South	Hebbal	88/2
L. Vivekananda, J.T. Koppalu, C&D Block, Vishvamanava Double Road, Kuvempunagar,Mysuru	12	R.T. Nagar, Vasanthnagar	Alanahalli	75/2
C.Mahadevaswamy, Doora Village, Second Block, Jayapura Hobli, Mysuru Taluk	10	Hanchya-Sathgali B. Zone	Kesare	415