3.16 acres of land originally purchased for Rs 1 in 1935: Siddaramaiah on MUDA land case

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday gave a rebuttal to every charge made against him in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land case while saying that 3.16 acres of land was originally purchased for Rs 1 in 1935.

“Being a law student and who has been in politics for 40 years, I do not see anything wrong in purchasing the land. I am also placing the documents before the people. An inquiry commission was constituted under the chairmanship of Justice P.N. Desai. The Commission has started the inquiry,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that the BJP and JD-S are trying to tarnish his image in the MUDA and Tribal Welfare case.

On the charge, B.M. Mallikarjun purchased land from one of the sons of Ninga Bin Jawara, who belonged to the scheduled caste, doesn’t the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act (PTCL) act apply to this purchase?

The Chief Minister responded by saying that On August 2, 1935, Jawara's son Ninga applied to the Mysore Taluk Office for allotment of land.

“The then lower-level officials submitted a report on August 15, 1935, that the lands requested by Ninga should be disposed of by auction. According to that, steps have been taken to conduct the auction,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that the auction was conducted accordingly and it is recorded after conducting the auction.

“3 acres and 16 the guntas of land in survey number 464 of Kesare village which is valued at Rs 3 rupees 8 annas was auctioned. During the auction, Ninga Bin Jawara quoted Rs 1 for the land on which the auction was concluded without any challenge. However, on October 13, 1935, it was mentioned that ‘Sale is confirmed’,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that since the lands are acquired through auction, they become self-acquired property and the government does not have any interest in these lands.

“So these lands do not come under the PTCL Act. The Act is clear about this. There are also countless judgments in this regard,” the Chief Minister said.

On the charge, did they (Siddaramaiah’s family) get permission from the government to make the purchase? The Chief Minister said that anyone with knowledge of the law knows that since PTCL doesn’t apply to allotted land, no government permission is required.

On the BJP’s allegations of why were the heirs excluded from the purchase of these lands, the Chief Minister said a family tree was constituted on March 10, 1993.

“According to it, Ninga Bin Jawara has three children. First is Mallaiah, second is Mylariah and third is J. Devaraju. According to the family tree, Mallaiah has no heirs. Mailaraiah has a son, Manjunath Swamy M,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that it was mentioned that he was 29 years old then. “ The third one is Devaraj. (This Devaraju sold the land to Mallikarjunaswamy, brother-in-law of the Chief Minister). This family tree is signed by Mallaiah, Devaraju, Mailaraiah's wife Puttagouramma, M. Manjunathaswamy,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that all the above have signed and given the declaration to make khata of the said land in the name of J Devaraju. “Based on this, these lands were transferred in the name of J. Devaraju,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that therefore, the BJP said that the purchase was done without the consent of the heirs.

“Their allegation is false. All these transactions took place before 2010. These are not related to me. However, these issues need to be raised as the BJP is using this petty matter for politics,” the Chief Minister said.

On the allegations about how many areas have been developed by MUDA where the land acquisition process has been completed and was government approval sought for such de-notification proposals?

The Chief Minister said that in the complaint the BJP to the Governor, false information was given by stating that there was no proposal from MUDA for de-notification of the said lands, the petitioner had not given the application, although he had given false information that de-notification had taken place.

“The BJP has given completely wrong information in the complaint to the Governor. Preliminary notification was issued on August 9, 1992, to acquire the said lands. However, it does not appear to be settled for many years. Then, J. Devaraju wrote an application on August 13, 1996, to release his lands from land acquisition,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that the final notification of these lands was made on August 20, 1997.

“This application was written before that. On the application, the then Urban Development Minister B.N. Bachegowda who reviewed the petition wrote a note to the Secretary. Based on this note, a letter was sent to MUDA,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that on July 24, 1997, MUDA passed a resolution to exclude this land from land acquisition and on August 30, 1997, the MUDA Commissioner recommended to the Secretary to the government to release the said lands from land acquisition.

“A committee headed by the then Revenue Secretary V. Balasubramanian reviewed and denotified the land along with 18 other such cases across the state. If there is a Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister or Minister, MLA will it take two years to complete this process?” the Chief Minister asked.

On the allegations of can de-notification be done when the land is completely acquired by the government and can such developed or partially developed land be sold? And who owned the land when it was de-notified?

The Chief Minister said that there are many judgments and also actions of the government that the process of land acquisition is not complete unless any land is acquired while the land compensation is paid and full possession of that land is taken.

“However, these lands were excluded on May 18, 1998. In MUDA since 1984, 235-300 acres of land in total 13 layouts have been relinquished from land acquisition. So when lands are excluded from acquisition it is seen that MUDA has not taken possession of these lands. So this question raised by the BJP is also an incoherent question,” the Chief Minister said.

On the charges, how was the 50:50 scheme implemented without government permission?

“The land was already converted on July 7, 2005, by the time my family took possession of it. By the time these lands came to our family, the land had been converted from agricultural purposes to residential purposes. Application dated June 23, 2014, and October 25, 2021, for alternative land in lieu of land compensation,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that in cases where the land is used without acquiring the land, in lieu of the land so used per cent. MUDA had decided on September 14, 2020, to give space in the ratio of 50:50.

“However, this decision was cancelled by the government. On December 7, 2020, they discussed again and made another decision and then finally decided that henceforth, in cases where the authority has used the land without acquiring it, 50 per cent of the total developed area can be given as compensation in the form of land compensation in agreeable cases,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that his wife submitted an application again on October 23, 2021.

“No compensation has been given so far regarding the use of my land by the authorities. As compensation, they should be given in the ratio of 50:50,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that the MUDA checked all this and wrote a letter of relinquishment from his wife and transferred the rights of 3.16 acres of land to the name of the authority on December 30, 2021, in the Kesare village.

“The Commissioner has issued an official order from the MUDA regarding the allotment of 3.16 acres of land of survey no. 464 and allotted plots measuring 38,284 square feet as compensation,” the Chief Minister added.