Land grab? Siddaramaiah puts his top babu on the mat

Bengaluru: Top government sources have told Deccan Chronicle that Chief Secretary Arvind Jadhav had “interfered” and “pressurized” the Department of Survey and Settlement of Land Records to create a RTC for the said land.

“The chief secretary, in a WhatsApp group created by officials of survey and settlement, pulled them up for laxity and asked them to 'expedite' his work of creating the RTC,” the insider said, adding that "when the chief minister summoned Mr Jadhav to know from him about media reports on the land row, Mr Jadhav told Mr Siddaramaiah that he did not exert pressure on any officer in any department.”

However sources close to the developments said one of the main reasons for the unceremonious transfer of Mr Munish Moudgil from the post of commissioner, Survey and Settlement of Land Records, was his refusal to clear the file pertaining to creating the RTC on a different survey number under the jurisdiction of a different village. This was finally done by the Tahsildar of Anekal taluk.

 In a letter entitled "Clarification for deleting Sy. No 29/1/1 of Ramanayakanahalli village in Anekal Taluk' ,  dated June 13, 2016, a copy of which was given to Deccan Chronicle, Mr Moudgil wrote to the deputy commissioner of Bengaluru Urban District.

He states: "The Tahsildar, Anekal has requested the 'Bhoomi' Monitoring Cell to allow deleting Survey Number 29 in village Ramanayakanahalli, Sarjapura hobli (the place where Ms Tarabai bought land) to create Survey No 29/1 using the RTC transfer option from one village to another. The request is illegal inasmuch as it is impermissible under KLR to use this software provision to delete/create/mutate RTCs within the same village".

Sources close to Mr Moudgil accused the Deputy Commissioner of toeing the line of the chief secretary and trying to get the work done through the tahsildar, despite knowing that it violated the Karnataka Land Reforms Act.
Mr Jadhav reportedly kept revenue officials under constant pressure to expedite his work, the source said.

The tahsildar tried to allot 73 acres of land to around 40 people in a single day. "It has been done systematically to ensure that the top man gets 8.3 acres in one block at the cost of government." The letter states "the land originally belongs to Government , and any phodi must be done correctly.." and is signed by the Commissioner, SSLR on July 26, 2016.

Didn’t influence, pressure anyone: Jadhav
Chief Secretary Arvind Jadhav has strongly denied he misused his powers to get a record of an RTC - Right, Tenancy and Crop - certificate done in his mother, Tarabai's name after she bought 8.3 acres of the grant land in 2003. Speaking for the first time on the subject Mr Jadhav said that he had applied for "phodi" (getting individual RTC done) for the land which is in his mother's name.

"However, the 'phodi'application is pending for the last 13 years," he said. "I have not influenced or transferred anybody", he told Deccan Chronicle late on Monday, even as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah requested his office to examine if there was any wrongdoing.