Mysore/Mysuru: The Directorate of Municipal Administration, Bengaluru, has suspended Rammanahalli Town Panchayat Revenue Inspector with pending department inquiry on charges of dereliction of duty for allegedly issuing  Form-3 (khata) of a Government land to private individuals.

The suspended Revenue Inspector has been identified as N. Manjunath. Department of Municipal Administration Director P.N. Ravindra issued the suspension order under section 9 (2) (c) of The Karnataka Civil Services (Classification Control and Appeal) Rules 1957 on Monday.

Retaining his lien, Manjunath has been transferred as First Division Assistant (FDA) to Hassan City Corporation. He has been ordered not to leave the headquarters until the inquiry was completed. However, he will be eligible for allowances as per the rules.

Case details

Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Somashekar, who investigated into the case, had written to Mysuru DC G. Lakshmikanth Reddy on May 16 requesting for sufficient time to investigate into the complaints received on several survey numbers under Rammanahalli Town Panchayat.

Somashekar had also recommended the transfer of Town Panchayat Bill Collector, Revenue Inspector and Chief Officer till the completion of the investigation.

In his letter, Somashekar had mentioned that in the e-aasthi portal on Mar. 6, 858 applications and 207 applications were pending for disposal in Chief Officer’s and Revenue Inspector logins respectively.

The letter further stated, both Chief Officer K.S. Mahesh and Revenue Inspector N. Manjunath had violated the Government’s circular and guidelines and orders from the higher officials by not disposing applications on a stipulated deadline.

Transfer of Government land to private individual

Meanwhile, DC Lakshmikanth Reddy, in his report, had also recommended for suspension of both Chief Officer Mahesh and Revenue Inspector N. Manjunath for allegedly issuing e-khata of a land on Sy.No. 259/5 to private individuals despite knowing the fact it belonged to the Government which was in total violation.

They also had submitted a report to Tahsildar stating that e-khata had been cancelled, which is in violation of their jurisdiction.

Following these allegations, DC Lakshmikanth Reddy recommended for their suspension. Chief Officer K.S. Mahesh, being a Karnataka Municipal Administrative Service (KMAS) Grade-1 officer, the decision regarding disciplinary action is with the State Government.

Since, the Directorate of Municipal Administration is the competent authority to initiate action against Manjunath, he was suspended pending with pending department inquiry.

Initiate criminal proceedings: Krishna

Social activist Snehamayi Krishna has urged the State Government to initiate criminal proceedings against corrupt officials. Reacting to the Rammanahalli issue, he said, “Only suspension will not serve any purpose. Instead, the State Government should initiate criminal proceeding against the corrupt officials. Chief Officer Mahesh and Revenue Inspector Manjunath have been involved in number of corruption cases and have also causing unnecessary problems for the people. Following the charges of misusing of power and corruption, a criminal complaint has to be filed against them in jurisdictional Police Station and should be punished as per the law.”

Snehamayi Krishna also said that he would personally file a Police complaint if the authorities failed to file a complaint before jurisdictional Police.