BENGALURU: One sub-registrar office in every district in Karnataka will be functional on second and fourth Saturdays and Sundays after October 21, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda told the media on Monday. “It is difficult for the working middle class to take time off from their jobs during weekdays to visit the registration offices. Moreover, it is inconvenient for those coming from other states for registration. Hence, to help the working class, this decision has been taken,” he said. When people submit their applications for registration, they will be informed online as to which office will be open, he added.
“This is a long-pending demand. In the budget, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself directed the department in this regard,” he said, adding that necessary legal amendments have been made, and cabinet approval has been obtained in this regard.
Digital Integration katha
To prevent fraudulent registrations and tax evasion, a digital integration katha rule has been implemented during the registration process, Gowda said. “Some individuals are creating fake accounts on paper and registering properties even though they do not have a valid katha. In some cases, despite not having a katha with the gram panchayat or BBMP, bogus katha are being used to make fraudulent registrations, causing hardship to many innocent people,” he added.
“During the registration process, there is a category called ‘Others,’ which is used only for registering Ashraya plots. In this category, the market value (guidance value) is lower, and the registration fee is also reduced. Hence, some people falsely register their private properties as ‘Others’ to evade higher costs,” he pointed out.
He said that former Registration Chief Trilok Chandra had conducted a study in Bengaluru on this issue and found that between July 1, 2018, and December 10, 2019, there was an estimated loss of Rs 250 crore in Bengaluru alone owing to tax evasion through fake accounts.
“Also, a sketch is mandatory during registration, but in some places, registrations have been done without a sketch. About 200 registrations have been done without a sketch since January. Properties have been registered under Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) without proper documentation, resulting in both fraud and tax evasion,” he said.
MINISTER HITS OUT AT KUMARASWAMY
Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda reiterated that when
Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy was the CM, the latter had proposed denotification of 1 acre 11 guntas in survey number 7/1B, 7/1C and 7/1D of Gangenahalli village.
The same land was denotified in the name of a deceased person when Yeddyurappa was the Chief Minister which eventually was registered in the name of Kumara-swamy’s brother-in-law Channappa, he alleged. “Is it not a crime to denotify the land in the name of the deceased? Even now I pose the same question: why was Kumaraswamy so eager to denotify this land when he was CM? Is it a lie that his mother-in-law had the GPA in her name? Finally, is this not the land registered in the name of Kumaraswamy’s wife, Anita Kumaraswamy’s brother?
Isn’t this an abuse of power? Let Kumaraswamy clarify,” he said.