The office of the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) has passed an order to cancel the transfer of the khata (number 501-2/669-1) of a property measuring 40x80 ft. at Durgigudi locality in the city currently owned by Mayor S.K. Mariyappa’s relatives.
The dispute between the Shivamogga City Corporation and some private persons over the ownership of this property had reached the High Court of Karnataka. The High Court, in its verdict passed in January 2006, had rested the ownership of the land with the Corporation.
After the Court had upheld the ownership rights of the Corporation over this property, the khata over it was illegally issued in the name of one Chandraprabha in 2011. Chandraprabha had later sold this property to S.M. Sharath and S.M. Abhilash, sons of Mr. Mariyappa, in the same year. Mr. Mariyappa was member of the Corporation when the transfer of this property took place. At present, a commercial complex was constructed by the Mayor’s family on the disputed land.
The members of Shivamogga Nagarika Hitarakshana Vedikegala Okkuta, a civil society organisation, had staged several protests alleging that by misusing his position as a member of the Corporation, Mr. Mariyappa had exerted pressure on the officials to sanction a khata over the property in the name of Mr. Chandraprabha, and later purchased the same in the name of his sons. The Okkuta had called it a case of encroachment of public property. The members demanded that Mr. Mariyappa step down from the post of Mayor to ensure a fair probe into the case. They even lodged a complaint with the DMA in this connection. The Okkuta had filed a writ petition with the High Court to restore the ownership right over the property to the Corporation.
In an order passed on January 21, the DMA, under column 102 of Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1972, has cancelled the khata issued in the name of Mr. Chandraprabha. Meanwhile, K.V. Vasanth Kumar, general secretary of the Okkuta, said that the order passed by DMA is the first victory in the legal battle launched to reclaim the property belonging to the Corporation.
