• A First Division Assistant facilitated the high-profile deal in MUDA !
• After land deal, FDA posted to CM’s Office in Bengaluru
• As controversy broke, he was transferred back to MUDA

Mysuru: Fresh details are emerging from the controversial land allotment by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife, B.M. Parvathi.

It has now come to light that the registration of a Relinquishment Deed — which transferred land in Kesare from Parvathi to MUDA — was carried out by a First Division Assistant (FDA, previously this position was called as First Division Clerk) at MUDA rather than a Gazetted Officer.

K.C. Umesh, who was employed in the office of the Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO) at MUDA (SLAO section), facilitated the transfer of 3 acres and 16 guntas of rain-dependent land (Kushki) in Survey No. 464 of Kesare village, Kasaba Hobli, Mysuru Taluk, to MUDA on Nov. 25, 2021.

The deed was registered at the Additional District Registrar’s Office within the MUDA premises, with Additional District Registrar Kavya authorising the registration process.

Were there no Gazetted Officers?

According to the rules, only Gazetted Officers are authorised to register (or receive) key property documents related to land acquisition, including sale agreements, sale deeds, relinquishment deeds and title deeds.

MUDA has over 30 Gazetted Officers, including the Commissioner, Secretary, Director of the Town Planning Department (TPM), TPM Deputy Director, Assistant Director, Special Tahsildar, Special Land Acquisition Officer, Superintending Engineer, Executive Engineer and Assistant Executive Engineers.

Why did Commissioner Natesh allow it?

The question being debated within MUDA now is why did the then MUDA Commissioner, Dr. D.B. Natesh (in 2021), delegate (through an authorisation letter) the responsibility of registering the Relinquishment Deed for B.M. Parvathi’s land to Umesh, a basic-level First Division Assistant in the Special Land Acquisition Officer’s office, instead of involving any of the other Gazetted Officers.

On behalf of the Governor

On behalf of the Honourable Governor of Karnataka, K.C. Umesh, who represented the MUDA Commissioner, signed the Relinquishment Deed by providing his left-hand thumbprint and a photograph at the Additional District Registrar’s Office. This act to facilitate the property transfer includes legal heirs and their representatives.

SLAO unaware

According to sources within MUDA, Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO) Harshavardhan, who was on duty at the time, was unaware that the Commissioner had issued an authorisation letter to Umesh, an FDA working in the same office, to manage and facilitate the transfer of land belonging to CM’s wife Parvathi via a Relinquishment Deed.

MUDA’s Gazetted Officers were reportedly taken aback upon discovering that FDA Umesh had registered the Relinquishment Deed, which left them perplexed about the situation and wondering what was happening at the MUDA Office.

Transfer to CM’s Office, Bengaluru

After completing the processes related to the registration of the Relinquishment Deed, the allocation of 14 sites to Parvathi in the upscale Vijayanagar and the issuance of sale deeds, FDA Umesh was ‘rewarded’ (as per sources) with the opportunity to work in the Chief Minister’s Office at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru when Siddaramaiah became Chief Minister for the second time.

However, as soon as the controversy surrounding this land and the 14 sites emerged, Umesh was recently transferred back to MUDA’s Site Section. Just a week ago, he was transferred once again to the Personnel (Establishment) Department within MUDA.

Employment on compassionate grounds

Umesh secured a job at MUDA on compassionate grounds after his father, Chikkannegowda, who worked as a record keeper in the MUDA Office, passed away while still in service.

The registration of Parvathi’s Relinquishment Deed by a First Division Assistant is an instance of how even non-gazetted officers and ordinary employees, with the support of senior officers, have managed to execute high-profile land deals.