Kempanna Commission seeks all records on Arkavathi Layout

The Justice H S Kempanna Commission has served a notice on the Revenue Department asking it to submit files and survey records on Arkavathi Layout within 15 days.

The commission, which is probing into the deletion of 983 acres of land from acquisition in the controversial layout, issued the notice on February 21. Sources in the government said the commission had sought revenue records of the entire Arkavathi Layout. In addition, it is looking for details of the 2,750 acres of land mentioned in the final notification in 2003-04. It also wants the survey maps.

The commission is asking for these records to ascertain the status of every survey number when it was initially acquired for Arkavathi Layout. As per a Supreme Court order, land was to be deleted keeping the status of land in 2003 as the premise, the sources add. According to them, revenue records are pertinent to the commission’s mandate as most cases of deletion were under clauses ‘b’ (totally built-up) and ‘f’ (similar to adjoining lands) of the High Court guidelines to facilitate their exemption from acquisition. A division bench of the High Court, with the Supreme Court’s approval, had directed the government to delete the land from acquisition for Arkavathi Layout only under six conditions.

The commission has also noted that most deletions have been done with the General Power of Attorney (GPA) holders coming forward to seek exemption for their land being acquired for the layout.

After getting the revenue records, the commission intends to dig into the Records of Rights, Tenancy and Crop (RTCs) and Mutation Certificates. It may also probe whether there was any tampering of records either by the BDA or in the revenue records over who the actual owners of the land are or whether the status of land has been illegally changed over the years.

Meanwhile, the commission has sought an extension of six months to its term to complete the probe. It has sent a requisition to the government in this regard, according to sources.

When contacted, N Srivatsa Kedilaya, the commission’s secretary, confirmed the requisition for extension. “The commission has started its probe by segregating and sorting out the huge volume of records pertaining to Arkavathi Layout. We will need an extension to complete the probe as there is a lot of work to be carried out,” he said.