A check at Ramanayakanahalli, the village in Anekal where Chief Secretary Arvind Jadhav’s mother Tarabai Jadhav bought 14 acres and 10 guntas of land in 2002, which is now at the centre of controversy, revealed that though she bought the land 14 years ago, she is not in possession of it.
Documents revealed that Ms. Tarabai Jadhav bought these land parcels from nine bagair hukum land grantees, allotted to them in 1978. However, villagers alleged that none of these nine grantees held possession of the land ever since. Other local villagers have been holding possession of these lands, without proper documents, villagers conceded.
Sources in the Revenue Department also admitted that there have been many gaps in the documents of grantees and the possession of land on the ground, which they said was at the heart of the dispute.
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“Of the 46 grantees, to whom 52 acres and 20 guntas were granted in 1978, only 19 were from our village and the rest came to take possession only in the early ‘90s, when we opposed it. We haven’t allowed outsiders to take possession of the land. We have, in turn, allowed other landless labourers in the village to cultivate this land,” said Venkataswamy, whose father Seekalappa from the village was granted an acre of land in 1978 and has been cultivating there since then. Another villager, who did not wish to be named, claimed that neither Ms. Tarabai Jadhav nor anybody from the family had come to the village till date and only “operated through intermediaries.”
Meanwhile, Ravikrishna Reddy of Lancha Mukta Karnataka Nirmana Vedike, who visited the village on Thursday, questioned the 1978 land grant itself, alleging corruption. “Most of the grantees have not cultivated these lands. The government should immediately order a resurvey and acquire all lands of these non-cultivators,” he said.
However, none have questioned the 1978 land grant order till date.