Sixty-two shops in the K.G. Maharaja Complex on K.G. Road have been illegally sold and yet, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials have turned a blind eye to this.
The commercial complex and multi-level parking facility was constructed on a joint venture agreement between the civic body and Maharaja Buildtech and Developers Pvt. Ltd.
Though the shops have been sold, BBMP continues to maintain the complex, besides repaying the loan that it had taken on the building from Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), Ruling Party Leader N.R. Ramesh told reporters on Tuesday.
He alleged that after the complex was constructed, the then commissioner of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (in April 2003) M.R. Sreenivasa Murthy issued a General Power of Attorney (GPA) to the builder. “Using this GPA, 62 shops have been sold. With the illegal sale of 62 shops to 19 persons, BBMP had lost property valued at Rs. 350 crore,” he said.
“There were 403 parking spaces in the complex initially. The spaces in the basement have been illegally converted into commercial spaces,” Mr. Ramesh said, adding that BBMP gets only Rs. 11.23 lakh a year as parking charge, which is a fraction of the fee that is collected. While a complaint has been filed with BMTF, he will personally pursue the case in the High Court of Karnataka, he said.
When contacted, Mr. Murthy said that any document (GPA) executed by him when he was the Commissioner would have been as per the terms of the joint development agreement. “While I do not remember the terms of the agreement now, the current Commissioner can look into the same and clarify the matter,” he said.
Meanwhile, BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayana said that he was aware of the allegations. “I will have to go through the documents in detail before taking any decision.”
‘Officials asked me to apply for encumbrance certificate myself’
Bengaluru: To ascertain how many properties still remain with the BBMP, it was suggested that the officials apply for encumbrance certificates for all its properties. “I had suggested to the officials of the Estate Department to apply for the encumbrance certificates. This is not an expensive proposal for the BBMP as it will cost only around Rs. 20 lakh. However, when I questioned the officials again, they asked me to apply for the certificates myself!” councillor N.R. Ramesh said.
