Transfers: Karnataka govt plans 'taint points' for sub-registrars

Bengaluru: The state government on Monday notified draft rules for counselling-based transfers of sub-registrars, proposing demerits for officers facing cases or allegations that could hurt their prospects of being posted to “high-value” locations such as Bengaluru.

The new rules seek to institutionalise transfers via counselling for sub-registrars, who are notoriously known to stay put in prime locations like Bengaluru for years.

Under counselling, the government will notify sub-registrars eligible for transfers and the places available for them to move. Accordingly, they get to pick their next posting.

In a first-of-its-kind move, officers will be ranked for counselling based on pending cases: four points for criminal cases or Lokayukta traps, three for sanctioned prosecution, two for punishment after departmental inquiry, and one for an ongoing inquiry.

Officials with the lowest number of points shall be ranked higher than officials having higher points. The highest rank will go to officials scoring zero points for having no disciplinary case.

“There was a perception that only some people were able to get posted in high-value locations using whatever means were available to them. Now, we are throwing it open based on performance. Every decent officer will get an opportunity to work in a high-value location,” Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda told DH.

Sub-registrars who have worked for five out of eight years in Zone-A, which includes the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) area and 13 city corporations across the state, will be compulsorily transferred, according to the draft rules.

Similarly, first division assistants (FDA) or stenographers who have spent six out of eight years in Zone-A sub-registrar offices will be compulsorily moved.

The last time sub-registrars were transferred based on counselling was in July 2024 as a one-time measure following a Cabinet decision. “Now, we are trying to institutionalise it,” Gowda said.

“We want to bring transparency into these transfers. We are taking ‘influence’ and ‘recommendations’ out of the equation.”

Any attempt, direct or indirect, to bring “undue influence” during transfers will be considered as misconduct, the draft rules state.

K’taka has 260 sub-registrar offices. Of them, 63 are located in Bengaluru Urban, B’luru North and B’luru South districts, which come under the BMRDA.