Bengaluru: In an admission that shocked the legislative council Wednesday, Karnataka revenue minister Krishna Byregowda acknowledged widespread corruption within his department, stating officials have been gaming the system in stitching up illegal land deals. At the same time, he said the govt has been working on revoking such deals and fixing gaps in law misused by some officials.
Responding to JD(S) MLC TA Saravana’s question on land encroachment through fake documents, minister Byregowda conceded that “a deep-rooted nexus” exists between developers and revenue officials.
“I don’t say all officials are part of these practices. Only a few officials who know this (builder-govt nexus) are allowing illegal deals within the legal framework. As minister, I can brush it aside, claiming there is no such practice in the department. I need to be true to myself — and I admit this is the reality unfolding at the ground level,” Byregowda said.
Citing an example from his Byatarayanapura constituency in Bengaluru, the minister said a developer who had bought 53 acres of land obtained legal conversion for 18 acres. However, plan approval was given only for 12 acres. But the developer eventually made a layout on 84 acres, encroaching upon gomala land. “Shockingly, local panchayat officials issued khata for the entire land,” the minister said.
“I, as minister, directed them to cancel the khata, but they sent the file back asking us to mark the encroached area. The tahsildar passes the buck to survey officials. That is why I described it as ‘systematic and well-organised’. They have created these documents by collusion and conspiracy,” Gowda said, hinting how loopholes are exploited to clinch illegal deals.
Byregowda assured the council that despite legal complexities, his department has been closely monitoring such dubious transactions. “In several contempt cases whenever the court has rapped the principal secretary, we’ve apprised the court that it (the order) cannot be executed as the disputed land is categorised as lake, gomala or B-Kharab. Further, we’ve brought those cases out of contempt proceedings and tried to resolve them as per the rules. In Bengaluru, we have been holding review meetings every month to track the progress of such cases. A few of these have been ordered by tahsildars, assistant commissioners, and special DCs. We need to cancel all such orders and fix those mistakes.”
When CM Siddaramaiah’s son Yathinda pointed out that even genuine cases were being delayed due to corrupt officials, Byregowda acknowledged the issue. “We’ve been working to get such cases on one platform using an app and resolve the issues. Only in the case of illegal grants or forest land, we cannot pursue khatas,” he said.
As BJP attempted to capitalise on the minister’s admission, Byregowda shot back: “Should I blame the previous (BJP) govt for delay and corruption? Yathindra has said the truth, and it is, indeed, the reality. We need to accept it without blending party politics into it.”