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Officials from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have initiated a significant action against alleged illegal A-khata holders, numbering at 9,736. These holders have received notices stating that their properties will be shifted from the A-khata registry to the B-khata registry, with a 15-day window for them to present objections and necessary documents to substantiate the authenticity of their A-khatas.
The procedure involves zonal commissioners instructing revenue officials to draft and distribute notices to each supposed illegal A-khata holder. The notices are designed to elucidate the reasons behind the reversion of their properties from A khata to B khata. It will be the responsibility of the A-khata holder to provide relevant documentation that validates their claim.
The subsequent phase encompasses revenue officials scrutinizing the objections, if any, and then taking the requisite measures based on the evidence provided. If the khata holder fails to present objections and supportive documents, the conversion to B khata will proceed unhindered. As a transparency measure, BBMP revenue officials are mandated to publicly display the list of property owners whose designations have been altered to B-khata on the notice boards of revenue offices.
Jayaram Raipura, the Special Commissioner (Finance), mentioned that although the initially set deadline for BBMP revenue officials to transition illegal A khatas to B khatas had lapsed, the Palike had refrained from setting a fresh deadline. Instead, officials were instructed to carry out the process in an expedited manner.
According to data from BBMP, these illegal A khatas have been distributed across all eight zones under its jurisdiction. The issue came to light when former BJP corporator NR Ramesh raised concerns about the massive count of illegally issued A khatas within BBMP's boundaries. In response, a review committee was established to investigate the matter, with revenue officers tasked with verifying the legality of these khatas. Following this review, 9,736 A khatas were identified as illegitimate.
The review committee, not entirely satisfied with the revenue officers' data, initiated an independent verification of all A khatas granted since 2014. This comprehensive verification disclosed that a staggering 45,133 A khatas had been issued by the civic body in that timeframe.
Alarming revelations surfaced, indicating that development charges were wrongly collected for B-khata properties, effectively transforming them into A khatas. This resulted in the illegal collection of Rs 898.7 crore as development charges from the owners of these properties since 2015-16. Among these properties, over 37,968 had been charged less than Rs 1 lakh each, indicating a likelihood of many being categorized as illegal A khatas. Additionally, A khatas were granted to 7,165 properties with development charges ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, further fueling suspicions of their legality.
To prevent recurrence, zonal teams are rigorously assessing all newly proposed A khatas. Consequently, the number of identified illegal A khatas is anticipated to surge as these 45,133 khatas undergo examination by the zonal teams. Ultimately, those khatas found to be in violation of regulations will be reclassified into the B-khata registry at a later stage.
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