Karnataka: Was urban Deputy Commissioner involved in Jadhav's land fiddle?

Bengaluru: Caught unawares in the middle of the land controversy surrounding Chief Secretary Arvind Jadhav and his mother Tarabai Maruthirao Jadhav, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is reportedly at crossroads regarding Bengaluru Urban District Deputy Commissioner (DC) V. Shankar, who has a lot to explain on how the government lost 66 acres of land in Ramanayankanhalli in Anekal in erstwhile Survey number 29.

“Shankar belongs to the same caste as the CM. There are just two IAS officers in the state, who share their caste background with the CM. Shankar is one of them. The other IAS officer is of 2004 batch and has an impeccable track record. The CM is yet to take a decision on the Chief Secretary’s file, but the caste card may play a role regarding Shankar. One has to wait and watch,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.

“Though the CS should explain why he exerted pressure on the Revenue officials to get official documents of land bought by his mother in Ramanayakanhalli in 2002, Shankar has much more to explain on why on January 14 this year he directed the Assistant Commissioner (AC), Bengaluru South, to create a single request ‘Darkasth Podi’ in favour of CS’s mother. When the Revenue authorities later found that the entire grant file was missing, the DC, on March 22, ordered rebuilding of records on a missing file. As per the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, the DC has to issue an order for creating a new survey number. There are five and a half lakh applications for podis, which have been pending before the Revenue Department in the state. If this illegality is given a clean chit then it may become a bad precedent for the rest. At the end the government will be the biggest loser,” the officer said.