The Deccan Herald 02.12.2010
Brokers garner posh sites at a bargain
Satish Shile, Bangalore, Dec 1, DHNS:
There does not seem to be any let up in crooked deals involving Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) land.
In cahoots with some BDA officials, an influential ring of brokers has duped hundreds of their sites by illegally transferring them in the name of some powerful people.
No less than 1,300 people, who had sites at BDA’s Sir M V layout, have been allotted plots in well-developed locations in violation of BDA norms as well as the Authority’s affidavit made in the Karnataka High Court last year.
The sites allotted to them are in two categories, 25 x 30 and 30 x 40 sq ft, each worth Rs 50 to Rs 70 lakh, according to the current market price.
In the process, the BDA, which is starved of revenue, reportedly lost about Rs 1,000 crore. On the other hand, the allottees paid merely 25 per cent of the guidance value for the sites they got in well developed layouts.
They can be sold too
Besides, the beneficiaries, who were given sale deeds for their respective sites, can sell their properties and make a killing. But those who got BDA sites by following normal procedure have been barred from selling their land for the next ten years.
Deccan Herald has accessed information that two years ago when nearly 1,850 people lost their revenue sites after the BDA decided to form the Sir M V layout, the Authority assured them alternative plots in the same location.
When the authority failed to keep its promise, some of the site applicants moved the Karnataka High Court.
Faced with the litigation, the BDA decided on Febraury 21, 2009 to allot alternative sites to these applicants in the yet-to-be developed Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda layout. BDA Commissioner Siddaiah even submitted to the high court an affidavit in which he reiterated the authority’s commitment which was in line with specific provisions of the BDA Act that make it clear that alternative sites should be allotted either in layouts where the original plots were carved out or in layouts that come up later.
There is no provision for allotting sites in layouts developed prior to the formation of those where the original plots are located.
But in clear violation of the established rules and its own affidavit, some BDA officials, in collaboration with a group of brokers, gave away sites belonging to revenue site holders at Sir M V layout in old layouts like Anjanapura, BTM layout, JP Nagar and Banashankari.
The price of a revenue site in Sir M V layout is comparatively lower to that in older and well developed locations.
According to documents, as many as 856 sites have been allotted in Anjanapur layout where the market price varies between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 per square feet. A bulk of the beneficiaries are said to be those who purchased General Power of Attorney (GPA) from the original revenue site owners.
BDA sources revealed that several revenue site owners, disappointed after repeated efforts to get alternative sites sanctioned by the authority, gave the GPAs of their original properties to some brokers and a powerful political lobby who managed to get sites sanctioned for buyers in well developed localities.
Based on records of the original revenue sites, the brokers would be able to get ownership of the land.
