It is no secret that the offices of sub-registrars are dens of corruption. The recent Lok Ayukta raids on 43 of them in Bengaluru (Urban) only confirms something that has been known for decades. Following complaints from the public, the anti-graft body had constituted 10 teams to visit and study the working of sub-registrar offices. In most offices, the team found that touts ruled the roost, and it was difficult to differentiate them from officers, showing the level of collusion. Agents, mediators and stamp vendors were seen roaming freely inside the offices and performing official duties such as collecting stamp duty, scanning documents and moving files from one table to another – tasks that should be done by government staff. They were also found to be demanding and taking money over and above the prescribed fees, and that was nothing but bribe-taking. The team also found that the PAN numbers of those registering their properties were deliberately not mentioned in the registration summary to enable them to evade payment of income tax. In some offices, ‘D’ Group employees were not wearing uniforms or identity cards and many of them had not signed the attendance register. The books on which cash declaration had to be made before entering the office were not maintained, CCTVs were not functioning. It is a parallel world playing by different rules.
The Lok Ayukta, which has issued notices to the Principal Secretary (Revenue), Inspector General of Stamps and Commissioner of Registration and others, has said that the mess at the sub-registrars’ offices is due to the “lack of supervision”. This is a clear case of dereliction of duty and amounts to connivance on the part of the top bureaucracy which looked the other way and allowed rampant corruption to continue right under their noses. The government has not done anything to stem the rot. The sub-registrar office has become a goose laying golden eggs, and nobody wants to stop that.
There have been raids in the past on sub-registrar offices, but corruption continues. Raids on their own will not help. The roots of corruption need to be identified and tackled to end corruption and other malpractices. The difference between the guidance value and the market value, which tempts people to undervalue properties, is one reason for corruption. Despite talk of transparency, there is much opaqueness in the functioning of the offices and the department. It is the taxes that should go to the government that goes, instead, as bribes and convenience money to various people. The problem is that it is those who benefit from corruption that should take action to end it.