HC allows builders to run amok

Will it open up Pandora’s box?
Officials Fear Illegal Transactions May Rise
The Times of India

Bangalore: Nearly 7,000 acres of government land encroached upon in and around Bangalore, valued between Rs 50,000 and Rs 4 crore per acre. More than 110 illegal layouts exist in the city, around 3 lakh acres of agricultural land converted in Karnataka over the last four years. And 71 revenue department employees booked for conniving with the land mafia to encroach upon the lands.

The government finally cracked the whip last year.

The April 23 notification, which banned the registration of properties on agricultural lands without conversion, was seen as a long-term solution to contain the haphazard development of cities. It was a stand taken by the government, notwithstanding the revenue losses to the treasury, as the registrations dropped when the rules were tightened.

But the Supreme Court last month passed an order pertaining to a case in Rajasthan which set aside the section 22(a) of the Registration Act which talks of the documents opposed to public policy. And Tuesday’s order did not come as a surprise to the Karnataka government.

According to officials in the revenue department, registrations will be opened up and properties will be sold and purchased without required documents as the court has withdrawn powers from the sub-registrars to reject the cases without the specified documents.

Agricultural lands will be sold as sites without land conversion order, layout approval plan and release certificate. Result: mushrooming of slum, formation of layouts without adequate civic amenities, illegal layouts in CMC areas, encroachment of green belt. Pre-April 23 notification, the registration rules had not provided for the above documents. An insertion was made to section 22(a) of the Registration Act of 1908 to this effect after the notification was issued. With the court quashing the notification, now the registrations can be carried out without these documents, say officials.

After the repeal of Fragmentation Act of revenue department in the late 90s in the state, there was a spurt in the purchase of agricultural lands for residential and commercial purposes. While the onus is on the concerned local area planning authorities, municipal bodies or town planning authorities to streamline the developments in green belt area, the revenue department also has a key role to play in the whole process as it is the registering authority.

“We did expect this order. We have not yet obtained the court order and cannot talk on the next course of action until the observations are studied. All that we can say is it is yet another beginning of illegal land transactions,’’ the officials pointed out.

‘Boost to construction’

Bangalore: With the High Court quashing the April 23 GO, the already feverish construction activity in Bangalore could get still more frenzied. One can expect some upward pressure on property prices in areas where registrations had come to a standstill, but over the medium term, all new construction activity, which would increase the supply of residential and commercial space, could help to temper the rise in the city’s property prices.

“A lot more construction will happen,” says B M Jayeshankar, president of Karnataka Ownership Apartments Promoters’ Association (KOAPA).

According to an estimate, nearly a 100 plans for big projects are stuck with the BDA on account of the lack of clarity regarding the land conversion process. Says one major developer, “The district commissioner would give us an interim memorandum for conversion and would tell us to go to the BDA/BMP for plan sanction. But the BDA/BMP would say they can sanction the plan only if we bring an official memorandum on conversion from the DC. In effect, no plans were being sanctioned.” Developers say one reason for the city’s property prices increasing so markedly was the non-sanctioning of development plans. “The property price rise could slow down if now the conversion process is speeded up,” says a developer.

Many had initially welcomed the April 23 GO as a move to check the indiscriminate development of layouts, many without proper sanctions and proper amenities. But the government’s recommended cure — of getting a number of state departments involved in the conversion process — was seen increasingly to be worse than the disease.
“The issue of illegal layouts and bogus khatas should be checked in some different way,” says Jayeshankar.

WHAT THE GOVT SAYS IN ITS APRIL 23 ORDER
“It has come to the notice of the government that several registrations of properties based on fabricated and bogus records are taking place especially in and around Bangalore and other cities in the state leading to haphazard growth of these cities.

As a result of registration of documents based on such records, the registering public are not getting clear titles. Because of which innocent purchasers are forced to enter into avoidable litigation and made to suffer for no fault of theirs.

This is also resulting in the speculators, middlemen and land-grabbers getting the GPA (general power of attorney) from the land owners who are selling the land to different persons by executing agreement deed or GPA in favour of the purchasers without transferring perfect and legal title.
Also, it has come to the notice of the government that land is being registered as non-agricultural land without conversion.”
THE PURPOSE
“The obvious purpose of this notification was to prevent indiscriminate conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural use, to regulate and control the conversion. This order strengthens the presumption that agricultural land is not to be used as per the property owner’s sweet will. In the public interest, it is necessary to prevent the registration of documents based on bogus, irregular and illegal records.’’

THE CHRONOLOGY
April 23: The government had banned registration of properties on agricultural land without conversion order, layout plan approved by the planning authority and assessment register extract from the local body.
July 2: A single window clearance committee was set up to look into the land conversions. The committee for Bangalore urban and rural districts comprised 12 departments and for other cities’ 11 departments.
August 23: The order spoke of registering the gramathana site. A site with or without a building situated within the village gramathana limits as per the village map of department of survey was exempted from conversion.
October 29: Opened up registration of old properties purchased before the creation of city corporation, municipality and before the promulgation of Town and Country Planning Act.
December 9: Simplified the single window committee; reduced the number of departments involved in the land conversion process.