The Bangalore Metro Reporter
SHOCKING BUT TRUE!
BDA SOLD LANDS AT 2.75 LAKHS PER ACRE TO NON-ELIGIBLE BODY. INTENDED TO BENEFIT ITS OWN EMPLOYEES!
The Bangalore Development Authority has sold 33 acres of land at the rate of 2.75 lakhs per acre and that too, to an organization which is barred from taking up housing activities! Strange but true. And the beneficiaries are the employees of BDA who have been shown this extra ordinary and unimaginable favour by the BDA. While the BDA has made bulk allotment of 10 acres to a housing society at the rate of 1.27 crores per acre, it broke its own rules to allot 33 acres of land for a paltry sum of 88.31 lakhs! And what more, even gomal lands have been gifted in this shabby transactions.
Nobody grudges the BDA employees getting allotment of sites as part of a welfare measure. But here too, they have to apply for sites like any ordinary public as the BDA Act and Rules stipulate that only those who apply for the sites whenever BDA invites for the application are eligible to get allotment. There is a discretionary quota of the government for allotment of sites to distinguished people who have serve the state like eminent sports person, defense personal etc. but here too, the quota is fixed and the BDA employees cannot claim allotment under this category except in cases if they happen to be distinguished persons. But still, they were given out of turn allotment.
Few employees of BDA formed a BDA Employees Welfare Association and registered it with the registrar of societies. This is not a co-operative society, but was meant to work for the welfare of the employees in educational, sports and cultural aspects. In fact the society registered under Karnataka firms and societies act is barred specifically from taking up any activities except education, culture, religious and sports. If the by law contains any mention of financial and housing activities, the society cannot be registered at all. Section 3 of the societies act clearly stipulates the aims and objectives of the society. Moreover, any profits arising out of the activities of the association cannot be shared by the members. This is a must condition for societies registered under this act. On the face of it, the BDA employees’ welfare society cannot indulge in housing or financial activities.
But the leaders of the association turned it into a real estate agency and the BDA became the facilitator to this business. Without going into the details like eligibility or otherwise of the association, the BDA had gracefully sold a large extent of land to this association for a song, and that too for taking up estate agency! At the maximum, the association can apply for CA site and that too whenever BDA calls application for allotment of CA sites to particular purpose. More than this the association under no circumstance can take up housing activities. If they do indulge in it, then it is illegal and the society’s registration has to be cancelled by the registrar of the societies.
However, the association without conducting the activities as stipulated under the law, had petitioned the BDA to allot bulk lands so that the association can form the layout and distribute sites to its members.
One does not comprehend how the BDA entertained this petition at the first instance itself? Does not the top brass of BDA know that a welfare association cannot apply for a bulk allotment of lands to indulge in real estate business? Only housing co-operative societies registered under co-operative societies act can apply for bulk allotment of land to take up housing projects for the benefit of its members.
But instead of rejecting the application by a non eligible body, the then BDA commissioner thought it fit to accept the application. Not just that, but the BDA finally allotted 33 acres in an up market Doddakalasandra and hurriedly executed a sale deed in favour of the association in November 2006. It had also given some more lands to the association at Lingadevarapura. This is the first major illegal action.
And what was the rate of bulk allotment? Let us compare for better understanding. In 2005, the government in the wake of the Akravathi Layout scam had limited bulk allotment to 10 acres. Based on this limitation, the BDA in its meeting held on 07-11-2006 had allotted 10 acres of lands in Ramesandra village to one Kanakasari Housing Building Co-operative Society. For them, the BDA had fixed a rate of Rs. 1.27 crores per acre. After the housing society paid Rs. 12.74 crores, the BDA executed a sale deed in favour of the society. So the rate of bulk allotment was Rs. 1.27 crores per acres.
Any sane man in his senses would think that the BDA would have applied this same rate in respect to the BDA employees Association. But shockingly, the BDA simply ignored its own rates in respect of the BDA employees’ welfare association. Rather it allotted 33 acres, hold your breath for a paltry sum of 88.31 lakhs! That comes to a meager about Rs. 2.75 lakhs per acre which is less than Rs. 7/- per Square feet.
For a bonafide housing co-operative society, the BDA levied Rs. 1.27 crores per acres, while for its own employees’ association which is barred from taking up housing activities under the law, it had levied only Rs. 2.75 lakhs per acre! Allegedly, the market rate of the property runs in crores per acre!
The BDA employees are not special class citizens so much so that the BDA should go out of the way to allot 33 acres to a welfare society formed by few employees of BDA. By any stretch of imagination, there was absolutely no need for BDA to make allotment of lands to a benami association floated by few of its employees and that too at a nominal amount which was 60 times lower than BDA’s own rate of allotment! Nobody can defend this highly illegal act. This is a second illegality.
The third major illegality in this episode is in the collection of crores of rupees by this welfare association from the employees promising sites in this land. The sital deposits, installments etc. cannot be collected by a private association without the specific permission from the RBI. While the housing co-operatives are legally entitled to collect money from the members, a welfare association is not. It can raise funds through membership, donations and charity, but it cannot be a profit making body. It has no legal status to collect deposits from the members promising sites. One rough estimate puts that the association had already collected more than Rs. 8 crores from the people and a major part of it was spent on layout formation.
In case of housing co-operative, if there are misappropriations, illegal acts, misuse of power by the directors, a member can take up the complaint with the registrar of co-operative societies. There are provisions to recover the misappropriated amount from the directors through attachment of their properties, imprisonment, superseding, taking over of the management by the government etc. Bit, in case of a welfare society registered under societies act there is no such remedy. What if few employees complain to the registrar of the societies about the housing activities of the association and its collection of deposits from the employees? The registrar has to cancel the registration of the association as all the deals are in black and white. Then, what will be the fate of the deposits of the members and the non-members in the society? Even the RBI can intervene and ban collection of deposits. The law clearly states that no individuals, organization or a firm can collect any deposit without the specific permission from the RBI. The members’ deposit to the tune of several crores will be lost in case of cancellation of registration and RBI’s ban on collecting deposits by this association.
Interestingly, these lands were acquired for JP Nagar 9th stage and the lands survey Numbers 15, 16 and 17 are gomal lands except a small extent allotted to individuals. The BDA has acquired the lands in 1991 itself. As per the law, the gomal lands cannot be allotted to any body as they are community properties. Only in rare cases government can allot it to SC/ST’s. And as per the Supreme Court order, the lands once acquired cannot be denotified.
On the face of it the BDA has acquired lands for its JP Nagar 9th stage in 1991. But, the BDA had not used the land for the specific purpose and after a gap of 15 years, had suddenly denotified the lands from JP Nagar 9th stage and sold it to a set up association for a pittance. When the BDA does not utilize the lands for a scheme for it had acquired, the land goes back to its original nature and here the lands remain as gomal lands. When the gomal lands cannot be allotted / granted to anybody, then how was the same allotted to this set up association! Any Comments!!!
Posts
Thanks for posting on BDA plots for sale in Bangalore.
ReplyDelete