How land grabbing is perpetrated

As the cases of land scam mount everyday, the orders given by quasi-judicial officers like Tahsildars, Assistant Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners are paving the way for more irregularities, instead of reducing them.

Throughout history, such officers have aided land scams by omission or through active involvement. There have been several instances in Karnataka where officials issued orders on the basis of fake documents, thereby transferring government land to miscreants. In many such cases, these orders become binding, as even the government has failed to get them overturned in the courts.

With land prices in Bengaluru and other cities soaring over the past two decades, realty has become a sector to make quick money and as a consequence, has become a breeding ground for scamsters.

Till recently, the government had not paid attention to the safety of land records. No system was established to protect land documents, many of which were more than 70 to 80 years old. As land changed hands often on the basis of sale deeds alone, the RTCs (Pahani) also changed the ownership accordingly. The revenue officials didn't depend for original sale deed or the documents related to land distribution. This wide gap provided enough leeway for scamsters.

Fake documents have added to the complication. In Bengaluru, there are entrenched networks which create fake documents for any land for a price.

For an official, referring to the government records is crucial while scrutinising documents. Scams can be avoided if one goes to the original records. However, many in the government collude with middlemen and facilitate such scams by sidestepping the regular procedure.

How it works

There have been cases where original documents were changed to legitimise scams.

There are three main types of land grabbing. In some instances, pages in land registration documents in the sub-registrar office had been changed. In Bengaluru, land grabbing has become rampant in places where original documents are missing.

Read: Now, fake civil suits used to grab land

Second, whenever a district is formed, the documents have to be transferred to the new jurisdictional office. However, many documents remain with the old office, making it difficult for officials to scrutinise the documents.

Land grabbers have exploited this opportunity to create fake documents, even colluding with officials in several cases.

"Such illegalities abound in Bengaluru's Jala and Bidarahalli hoblis. Jala hobli was situated in Devanahalli taluk till 1985, when it was transferred to Bangalore North. Many original documents have neither been transferred to the office of the new taluk, nor are available in the old office. Miscreants are using grant certificates (saguvali) as an effective tool to grab land," an official said, citing one instance, where there was a bid to get compensation from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited for land that never belonged to the claimants.

The official said similar instances can be found in areas coming under Bidarahalli hobli in Hoskote taluk. The hobli was transferred from Bangalore South Taluk and later to Bangalore East, with documents not reaching the new office.

The third type of grabbing happens where the land is not converted before forming layouts, which has led to the mushrooming of 'revenue sites' around Bengaluru. This can be prevented by officials by performing a simple check to ensure the agriculture land is not being sold for any other purpose.

The senior official said that the only solution to the problem was to computerise the original documents and sale deeds. "This can prevent more scams in the future. A contract was given to a private company for digitisation of documents. However, as the government didn't pay the firm, the scanned documents were not handed over to us. It shows that the government doesn't have the will to stop land scams," he added.