Rejecting former Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Commissioner D.B. Natesh’s charges that former MUDA chairman H.V. Rajeev had secured the release of sites of Jnanaganga House Building Co-operative Society headed by him without the Commissioner’s consent, Mr Rajeev sought to clarify that a resolution had been passed during MUDA Board meeting of January 2022 to release the 848 sites for registration.Days after a February 2022 letter written by Natesh to the Secretary of Urban Development Department alleging violation of rules by the then MUDA Chairman became public, Mr. Rajeev convened a press conference in Mysuru on Sunday and pointed out that a decision had been taken during a MUDA Board meeting chaired by former MLA S.A. Ramdas to release 30 per cent of the sites on layout developed by the Society on 250 acres of land in Kergalli, Nagarthahalli and Ballahalli.Mr. Rajeev, who also heads the Jnanaganga House Building Co-operative Society, said he had stayed out of the MUDA Board meeting held in January 2022 as his presence would amount to “conflict of interest”. The resolution passed at the MUDA Board meeting had been signed by the then Commissioner D.B. Natesh, Mr. Rajeev claimed.Subsequently, a Technical Committee went into the issue and found that the release of the 848 sites for registration by the MUDA was as per law. The Technical Committee report of 2023 did not find any merit in Mr. Natesh’s complaint against him, Mr. Rajeev claimed.Referring to Mr. Natesh’s charge that the khatas of the 848 sites, allegedly released without his consent, had been issued within one or two days, Mr. Rajeev said the khatas had been released over nine days as per the technical committee report.Mr. Rajeev, who admitted that he and Mr. Natesh did not have a cordial relationship during their tenure in MUDA, said he had complained against the Commissioner’s style of functioning to the then Minister in charge of Mysuru district S.T. Somashekar. To questions on the allotment of sites by MUDA under the 50:50 ratio scheme, Mr. Rajeev did not rule out the possibility of irregularities in the allotment of sites that had been cleared without bringing the matter before the MUDA Board.The 50:50 ratio scheme was brought in after the High Court in one case ordered handing over the entire developed land to the landloser, whose land had been used by MUDA without completing the acquisition formalities. MUDA faced the prospect of either handing over the entire land used for developing a layout without acquiring it or pay three times the market rate. Hence, a decision was taken to allot sites under the 50:50 ratio scheme to the landlosers, but only after bringing the matter before the MUDA board.While allotment of sites under the scheme when brought before the MUDA Board would be within the framework of law, Mr. Rajeev said the irregularities may have started when the officials began allotting sites under the scheme without bringing them before the MUDA Board. Published – September 15, 2024 07:14 pm IST