BENGALURU: Acting on a report which highlighted the allotment of lands worth crores to close relatives and associates of revenue officials in Mangaluru, Lokayukta Justice P Vishwanatha Shetty has ordered an enquiry by the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada, while directing officials to maintain status-quo on the sites in question.
The report, submitted by the Superintendent of Police, Lokayukta, Mangaluru, was ordered by the Lokayukta based on a pseudonymous petition filed with his office. The report by the SP was submitted in March and alleged that revenue officials in Mangaluru taluk, had issued title deeds for land allotted to ineligible persons in residential areas in Mangaluru town, like Kodiyalbail and Jappinamogaru.
In his order, Justice Shetty said that an investigation into all grants made under section 94-CC of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act from the year 2015 onwards would have to be made to verify if any illegal grants have been made in collusion with revenue officials.
“The object of Section 94-C and 94-CC of the KLR Act is to give dwelling sites to the persons who are in occupation of dwelling houses in government land and poor persons. It is not intended to confer power on the revenue officers to connive with their relations and distribute public property without any justification,” the Lokayukta said further adding that government land was to be preserved for posterity and for future generations. “It cannot be lightly distributed to the close relations or associates of the revenue officials on extraneous considerations.”
Three officials, Tahsildar T G Guruprasad, Mangaluru taluk, Revenue Inspector Joseph Walgat Pereira, Mangaluru ‘A’ Hobli and Village Assistant Ramesh, working in the office of Revenue Inspector, will be impleaded as parties to the proceedings and an enquiry will be held against them. They have been directed to submit their comments with regard to the report by July 29.
Corruption in site allotment: Report
According to Lokayukta SP’s report, R Sowmya, the wife of Village Assistant Ramesh attached to the Revenue Inspector’s office, is a native of Uppinangadi. She got title deeds of two sites in Kodiyalbail, Mangaluru taluk. She submitted two more applications to get sites under section 94-CC
of the KLR Act.