Government land turned into ₹800-crore private asset, Lokayukta’s plea to prosecute revenue officer pending since 2021

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - June 10, 2026 12:31 am IST - Bengaluru Bengaluru: A policeman stands guard at the Lokayukta office, in Bengaluru, Karnataka, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak | Photo Credit: SHAILENDRA BHOJAK In what was supposed to be an inquiry into the ownership of government land, a Revenue Officer entrusted with examining the dispute allegedly became part of the very chain of events that enabled private parties to secure government land valued at more than ₹800 crore. The Police Wing of the Karnataka Lokayukta said the officer’s duty was to verify the legality of competing claims and protect government property where required. Instead, he allegedly relied on disputed revenue records and actions that strengthened private claims over the land, ultimately facilitating its conversion into saleable property. The case involves more than 35 acres of government Kharab land and lake area in Yelahanka, where a revenue inspector and four other officers allegedly enabled the transfer of public land into private hands through a series of administrative actions and record alterations. Although the Police Wing sought sanctions for prosecution in 2021 through a proposal sent to the State government under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the government has neither approved nor rejected the request. The proposal has remained pending for more than five years. The case concerns 35 acres spread across Survey Nos. 9, 10 and 11 of Singhahalli village in Yelahanka Hobli. The land was originally part of Singhahalli Lake and classified as Kharab land, making it ineligible for private ownership. Over the years, RTCs (Record of Rights, Tenancy, and Crops), mutation entries, Index of Land Records Register (ILRR) records and survey sketches were created in the names of private individuals and subsequently treated as genuine revenue documents. Once these entries became part of the official revenue system, they formed the basis for ownership of claims over land originally recorded as government property. The claims gained momentum when the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) initiated acquisition proceedings in the area. Private individuals asserted ownership over portions of the land and challenged the acquisition before the Karnataka High Court. According to the proposal, the disputed revenue records continued to be relied upon during these proceedings, allowing the ownership claims to persist and gain administrative legitimacy. When revenue authorities revisited the matter in 2024, they encountered a clear contradiction: original survey and archival records continued to describe the land as lake and government property, while later revenue entries reflected private possession and ownership. The proposal argues that, instead of resolving this contradiction through verification of primary records, officials relied on the later entries and proceeded with further administrative actions that strengthened the private claims. The paper trail eventually translated into physical transactions. In 2024, multiple sale deeds were executed through the Byatarayanapura Sub-Registrar’s Office, with portions of the land changing hands between private parties, sources said. Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Government land turned into ₹800-crore private asset, Lokayukta’s plea to prosecute revenue officer pending since 2021

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