'B' khata is bogus: Siddaiah

There is now every reason to believe that the ‘B’ in the ‘B’ khata, the semi-official document being used in land transactions stands for ‘bogus.’

BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah said on Wednesday that there is no such document called ‘B’ khata, which, ironically enough, is issued by the Palike offices.

The general perception among the public has been that a ‘B’ khata on a revenue property is a kind of surety that their property is not illegal. Banks that had given loans on the strength of the document, later stopped doing so when they realised that the document was not valid.

On Wednesday, the floor leader of JD(S) Padmanabha Reddy raised the issue in the House, declaring that the ‘B’ khata is “nothing but a mirage”. Yet the BBMP officials harass people for issuing a B khata, said Reddy, adding that the arrangement was only to make every property owner in Bangalore  pay tax.

Reddy told the House that there are two registers of properties in the revenue offices - the ‘A’ register listing legitimate residential or commercial property, and the ‘B’ register  listing properties that are illegal as per the KMC Act.

“There is no provision under the KMC Act to issue ‘B’ khata. Because an illegal property is listed in the ‘B’ register, the Palike devised on its own a ‘B’ khata,” said Reddy.

Palike Commissioner Siddaiah, who was unaware of this practice of the Palike officials initially, said the ‘B’ khata is a valid document, but later when the deputy commissioner (revenue) briefed him that Reddy’s statement was correct, he too had to admit that there is no significance of ‘B’ khata as such. The commissioner then said Palike officials may have devised the practice to tax the facilities provided to the property owners of illegal layouts.

Reddy said the confusion can be cleared if the government brings Sakrama scheme to give legitimacy to lakhs of properties in the City. In response, the Commissioner told the House that the Sakrama scheme is awaiting Governor’s nod.