The Hindu 24.01.2011
Lease contract of civic amenities sites stalled
Abhay Patil, MLA, sends a request to the Chief Minister
In yet another case of illegal allotment of land, the Government
directed the Belgaum Urban Development Authority (BUDA) to lease civic
amenities (CA) sites to two private trusts.
However, as BUDA was preparing to go ahead with the
allotments ignoring due procedure, another organisation approached the
Karnataka High Court. The BUDA could not go ahead with the allotments
and the matter is still before the court. This came to light recently.
According to the photocopies of the official documents available with The Hindu,
Secretary of the Department of Urban Development on January 6, 2010,
directed the BUDA Commissioner to lease CA sites in Scheme nos. 40 and
56 to Sri Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Educational and Cultural Trust and Arka
Educational and Cultural Trust, Belgaum, under the Karnataka Urban
Development (Civic Amenities Sites Allotment) Rules, 1991, for 30 years.
The order was made with “reference” to a letter from
Abhay Patil, MLA (Belgaum South), to the Chief Minister on December 20,
2009. The Government responded to the request for provide land on lease
to the two trusts within 18 days.
Accordingly, the BUDA Commissioner wrote to both the trusts on January 12, 2010, conveying the Government Order.
The Commissioner, stating that the Government had
sanctioned a two-acre CA site of Scheme no. 40 to Sri Bhagwan Mahaveer
Jain Educational and Cultural Trust, sought copies of the registration
document from the trust, audit report for a period of three years and a
deposit of Rs. 2 crore 17 lakh and 80 thousand.
In a separate letter to Arka Educational and Cultural
Trust, the Commissioner said that the Government had sanctioned 2 acres
in H.D. Kumaraswamy Layout in Scheme No. 56and asked for the relevant
documents and a deposit of Rs. 2 crore 17 lakh and 80 thousand.
But the Belgaum-based Kalkhamb Education Society,
Mahantesh Nagar, and a businessman Basvant Basappa Mailarayya of
Somarpet, challenged the Government Order on the grounds of procedural
lapses and flouting of rules in sanctioning CA sites to the two trusts.
When asked, BUDA Commissioner V.S. Chougale acknowledged while talking to The Hindu here on Saturday that it was the BUDA’s prerogative to sanction/allot CA sites.
He also said that procedural aspects were not observed in these cases.
“I have only followed the order of the Government, and
the head of my department. I am not above the Government and was simply
obeying the directions issued to me,” said Mr. Chougale, adding that he
could not comment on the issue because it is in court.
A BUDA official said once land is leased to private
institutions, it is as good as “sold”, as only a nominal sum is
collected to sell the land after the end of the lease period.
