MUDA commissioner suspends manager, calls for disciplinary action against tahsildar in graft case

Mysuru: Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA)'s Commissioner has suspended its office manager and recommended disciplinary action against a special tahsildar in a corruption case.

Following allegations that MUDA office manager Somasundru and Special Tahsildar K V Rajashekhar had colluded with a fraudster, to create fake documents to usurp a deceased person’s property, MUDA Commissioner A N Raghunandan issued orders.

MUDA has dominated the headlines in recent past with Lokayukta Police and Enforcement Directorate probing into land allotment in connection with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his family members.

It is learnt that MUDA officials had colluded with fraudsters, to create fake documents, in order to seize a house that belonged to a deceased person.

MUDA Commissioner Raghunandan had issued the orders on April 9, based on a report by MUDA Secretary Prasanna Kumar, following an inquiry.

Earlier, a complaint was lodged, with supporting documents, by RTI activist B N Nagendra to MUDA Commissioner and Lokayukta. The commissioner is said to have taken action, as the allegations were proven, prima facie.

In Gokulam 3rd Stage Layout, Model House No 867, a property measuring 30x40, was sanctioned by MUDA to Lilian Sharada Joseph on November 2, 1982, and an agreement deed was issued.

However, the title deed was not handed over to her. Lilian Sharada Joseph passed away on September 3, 1983. Besides, the said property was not given possession to anyone until April 6, 2025, by MUDA.

Meanwhile, on March 26, 2024, the property records (pouti khate – title deed in the name of legal heir) were transferred in the name of Neville Marcus Joseph, who is not a legal heir to Lilian Sharada Joseph.

The property records were transferred without properly obtaining genealogy records. Office minutes were also created arbitrarily, to facilitate the property transfer.

Furthermore, a bit of land was also sanctioned and a title deed was issued in this regard. Neville Marcus Joseph, who illegally obtained the records, had already registered it in Zone Office 4 of the Mysuru City Corporation and sold it to Mamatha and Shyam for a huge sum, as it is in a prime and old area.

B N Nagendra had filed a complaint with the Lokayukta and also MUDA Commissioner, seeking action. Upon verification, it was proven that manager Somasundru and Special Tahsildar K V Rajashekhar had misused their authority, by issuing a modified sale deed at their level, exceeding the MUDA Commissioner's orders for the said plot.