Doddaballapura ex-assistant commissioner fudged land records, transferred 62 acres

BENGALURU: An investigation by Lokayukta police has made public that Durgashree N, a former assistant commissioner (AC) of Doddaballapura sub-division, manipulated records related to 62 acres 20 guntas of private land in three different villages to facilitate their transfer to private persons.

Key points

• Durgashree is accused of creating fake orders by fraudulently referring to case numbers in Karnataka High Court, Karnataka Appellate Tribunal and Revenue Appellate Courts.
• The transferred land is worth Rs 103.68 crore according to sub-registrar value and has a current market value of Rs 500 crore.
• Durgashree's actions defeated the particularly purpose of the state administration digitising the land records, the Upa Lokayukta noted.
• Justice Veerappa remarked the AC employed her digital signature to upload the fake orders for mutation of khata.
• Thereby, it is high time for this authority and the law enforcing agency to protect administration land.

Durgashree is accused of creating fake orders by fraudulently referring to case numbers in Karnataka High Court, Karnataka Appellate Tribunal and Revenue Appellate Courts. It were, in reality, not related to the actual survey numbers of the land in question, by manipulating and fabricating digitised public records.

For context, the transferred land is worth Rs 103.68 crore according to sub-registrar value and has a current market value of Rs 500 crore. Referring to the report, the Upa Lokayukta remarked it indicated that Durgashree attempted to illegally transfer the khata with connivance of the office-holders of her office. Thereby, she cheated the public at sizeable by damaging the belief of the general public on transparency in maintenance of public records, the Upa Lokayukta stated.

Justice Veerappa remarked the AC employed her digital signature to upload the fake orders for mutation of khata. She lodged a complaint on the same day of her transfer regarding the fake orders prepared in her name, but kept mum concerning the uploading of the fake orders through her official login in the Bhoomi software.

Durgashree's actions defeated the particularly purpose of the state administration digitising the land records, the Upa Lokayukta noted. The conduct of the AC and the other officers of her office are such that it shocks the conscience of this authority (Upa Lokayukta).

Thereby, it is high time for this authority and the law enforcing agency to protect administration land. Otherwise, the entire administrative system will collapse as the general public would doubt the transparency of maintenance of digitised public records, Justice Veerappa observed. Noting that it is a fit case to matter notices to Durgashree and other officers involved, he directed them to appear in person on September 22 along with documents on the matters raised in the order.

Taken together, the developments around doddaballapura ex-assistant commissioner fudged land records, transferred 62 acres point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.