MUDA scam: ED probe shows illegalities even before land sale

Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has found that three acres and 16 guntas of land in Kesare village, the centrepiece of the suspected scam in Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), was denotified and converted illegally.

According to the ED, the land was denotified after an application was filed before the then urban development minister B N Bache Gowda and processed without proper documentation. “Application was processed without obtaining a death certificate, legal heir certificate, family tree, consent of the family members etc,” the ED claimed.

The ED explained this in a recent communication addressed to the Karnataka Lokayukta police, which is also probing the alleged irregularities. A copy has been reviewed by DH.

The ED claimed that the preliminary notification for the land (survey number 464) was issued on September 18, 1992, and the final notification on August 20, 1997. According to the ED, the two notifications showed Ninga alias Jawra as the land owner, who has died.

His son J Devaraju, one of the key suspects in the case, sold the land to B M Mallikarjuna Swamy in 2004. Swamy gifted the land to his sister and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife B M Parvathi in 2010.

Devaraju had filed the denotification request with Bache Gowda and not directly with MUDA, the ED said.

It added that the issue of denotification was discussed by the MUDA board as made clear in the minutes of the meeting on July 24, 1997.

ED also mentioned in the letter that Siddaraiamah, at the time of denotification, was the Deputy CM, MLA from Chamundeshwari and a member of the MUDA board. However, he did not attend the meeting where the denotification was discussed, the agency said.

The ED also said that Devaraju was not dependent on the land as he claimed in his denotification application as he was a state government employee.

Sold as ‘agri land’

According to a sale deed dated August 25, 2004, the land (survey number 464), was sold to Mallikarjuna Swamy by Devaraju for Rs 5.95 lakh as “agriculture land”. Mallikarjuna Swamy told ED that he had visited the land during 2003-04 with Devaraju and “there was no development on the land”.

However, ED found that MUDA began developing the land after 2001 and allotted sites by 2003, which they claim is proved by “satellite images”. Both Devaraju and Mallikarjuna Swamy could not provide an explanation when confronted by the ED.

“Twenty-five plots were formed on the land and 20 sites were registered. Four allottees did not pay the consideration while one allottee filed a lawsuit. Five remaining plots were commercial plots under MUDA’s custody,” the ED claimed. 

The federal agency also claimed that on May 15, 2001, a work order for developing the layout was placed with Larsen & Toubro for Rs 11.68 crore and was completed on May 17, 2003. The payment, the ED said, was made in 16 instalments between 2001 and 2004.

Despite all this, the land was sold as “agricultural land”, the ED claimed. The ED also claimed that although the development and site allotment was done before the sale, neither Devaraju nor Mallikarjuna Swamy raised objections nor claimed compensation.

“It is evident from this that the land sale is a sham transaction which is intentionally made on paper only,” the ED claimed.

“The land [was] converted into residential land based on incorrect spot inspection reports and no objection from MUDA. Illegal compensation in the form of sites at a posh locality worth Rs 56 crore (approximately) was obtained through political influence.”