Panel to probe illegal khatha scam

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike has formed a special committee to investigate illegal khatha scam in the Palike.

An order was passed by Mayor B S Sathyanarayana and Commissioner M Lakshminarayana on Wednesday after Kacharakanahalli corporator Padmanabha Reddy raised the matter with supporting documents in the BBMP Cou­n­cil. The probe team will bring out illegal khathas issued in the City limits and recommend action against erring officers.

The committee will have joint commissioner (administration) B B Cauvery, Padmanabha Reddy and corporators of BJP, Congress and JD(S).

Reddy claimed that genuine ‘A’ khata of the disputed or revenue sites are on sale in BBMP, which sets a wrong precedent and legalises disputed properties. It will land such property buyers in trouble.  The matter came up when Reddy and other corporators deman­d­ed ‘A’ khata be issued on revenue sites too by collecting better­m­e­n­t charges. I R Rama­kanth, BBMP Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) said it cannot be done due to legal reasons. 

He asked people to get the land use converted from reve­n­­ue to non-agriculture and pay betterment charges to get ‘A’ khata. Then, Reddy sho­wed documents as evidence that ‘A’ khata was issued on revenue layouts too as late as 2014 using a 2006 circular issued by the government.