• MUDA Commissioner grilled for seven hours
• IAS Officer-led team from Bengaluru raids MUDA Office; Seizes 140 files

Mysore/Mysuru: In a surprise visit yesterday afternoon, a three-member team led by an IAS Officer grilled Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Commissioner G.T. Dinesh Kumar and other officials over reports of MUDA allotting about 4,500 to 5,000 sites to land losers under a 50:50 ratio, allegedly circumventing the rules.

The inspection team from Bengaluru comprised IAS Officer Venkatachalapathy, Commissioner of Town and Country Planning and Development Directorate, Superintending Engineer-grade Officers, N.K. Thippeswamy, Director, Town and Country Planning Department and S. Gopalakrishna, Joint Director of the Town and Country Planning Department.

SOM report, MLA’s letter 

On June 26, Star of Mysore published a report titled ‘MUDA allotted 4,500 to 5,000 sites                    illegally under 50:50 ratio,’ highlighting how MUDA officials violated rules.

Following the SOM report, Krishnaraja MLA T.S. Srivatsa wrote to the State Government seeking action against the guilty officers, suspecting that these violations caused MUDA a loss of hundreds of crores of rupees after it distributed sites in prime residential layouts including Vijayanagar, Dattagalli, J.P. Nagar and R.T. Nagar. The large-scale irregularities were revealed in a report by a Technical Committee constituted by the Government to investigate a complaint submitted by P.S. Nataraj.

Before SOM broke the story, MUDA Chairman K. Marigowda had directed MUDA Commissioner to halt distribution of sites under 50:50 ratio.

Scrutinising files

The inspection team arrived at the MUDA office around 12.30 pm and summoned Commissioner Dinesh Kumar, who was not at his seat due to a pre-scheduled meeting. He arrived at 1.30 pm.

Before his arrival, IAS Officer Venkatachalapathy ordered the staff to retrieve all files related to the 50:50 ratio deal and began scrutinising them. As soon as Dinesh Kumar arrived, the team was ready with questions, and sources say the Commissioner was grilled until 8:30 pm. Snacks and dinner were even brought to his chamber.

As questions were posed to the Commissioner regarding site allotment, relevant documents were summoned from various sections, including incentive sites, land acquisition files from the Office of MUDA Special Land Acquisition Officer, files of compensation distributed to land losers, and the utilisation of the remaining lands.

140 files seized

The team scrutinised all the relevant files and seized over 140 documents that had discrepancies, doubtful mentions and entry mismatches. They then summoned officers from Superintending Engineer’s section, requesting details of incentive sites and Correct Dimension (CD) Lists.

Proceedings of Sept. 14, 2020 meeting

Next, the team turned to the Town Planning Member Office, where records of area and layout planning, alternative sites, leftover land, and the exact number of sites distributed under the 50:50 records are kept, was summoned. Records were also retrieved from Finance Department and the Technical Section Engineers and Surveyors to tally accrued revenue.

The inspection team then visited MUDA Secretary’s Office, but he was not present in his chamber. The team gathered information about approvals granted by Secretary, the process and communications involved in granting sites. The team also summoned and reviewed the proceedings of MUDA meeting held on Sept. 14, 2020, which resolved to allot sites under 50:50 ratio for lands used in site development.

The statements of MUDA Commissioner, section heads and other senior Officers were recorded after 8.30 pm and the team left for Bengaluru with files, findings and other records.