Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has dismissed and suspended a chain of revenue officials in its Begur division for allegedly issuing khatas to sites formed in illegal and unapproved layouts, marking the first such drastic internal action since the Authority came into force. The move follows a citizen’s complaint that triggered an inquiry into large-scale irregularities in khata issuance in non-regularised areas on Bengaluru’s outskirts.​

Action against officials

According to reports, six revenue officials attached to the Begur division were found to have facilitated khata certificates for plots carved out in layouts that lacked statutory approvals from the competent planning authority. The inquiry concluded that the officials had bypassed verification norms and effectively legitimised illegal layouts by issuing property identifiers that are often treated by buyers as proof of legality.​

The GBA has ordered their immediate removal from current posts, with some officials facing outright dismissal and others placed under suspension pending departmental proceedings under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024. Senior officers have also been warned that supervisory lapses in revenue and planning matters will attract similar disciplinary action in future.​

How the illegal khata scam worked

Preliminary findings indicate that khatas were issued for sites in layouts that had neither conversion from agricultural to non-agricultural use nor layout approval under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961. Officials allegedly relied on internal notes and manual records instead of mandatory digital checks, enabling unauthorised layouts to quietly enter the khata system.​

Such khatas can mislead homebuyers into believing that a site is legal because civic bodies later use these records to collect property tax and provide basic amenities. Urban governance experts say this creates a “regularisation by stealth” effect, where illegal layouts gain de facto recognition long before any formal policy decision.​

Policy backdrop: tightening rules

The crackdown comes in the wake of broader state-level moves to regulate B‑khata and unauthorised properties within the GBA limits. The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024 designates GBA as the planning authority and explicitly bars issuance of fresh B‑khatas for unauthorised properties created after a specified cut-off date, tightening the window for discretionary regularisation.​

Separately, the Karnataka cabinet has approved a framework to regularise legacy B‑khata properties issued before September 2024, arguing that these need to be brought under formal planning control while preventing new illegal layouts from mushrooming. Officials say the latest disciplinary action is meant to signal that any attempt to exploit this transition phase through backdoor khata issuance will invite strict punishment.​

Impact on buyers and layouts

For genuine buyers who relied on these questionable khatas to purchase sites, the status of their properties could now face scrutiny during future transactions, bank loans or building plan sanctions. Lawyers expect more property purchasers to seek encumbrance checks, planning approvals and online e‑khata verification before committing funds, especially in fringe areas like Begur, Sarjapur Road and other fast-developing corridors.​

Citizen groups argue that while corrupt officials must be punished, buyers who invested in good faith should not be left in limbo and should be covered under any forthcoming one‑time regularisation schemes. Activists, however, see the sackings as a rare instance of upward accountability in Bengaluru’s revenue machinery and have urged GBA to publish a public list of approved layouts and banned khatas to reduce future fraud.​

What GBA plans next

GBA has announced tighter internal protocols, including mandatory digital verification of land-use status, integration of khata issuance with master plan records, and random audits of high-growth revenue circles. Training sessions for revenue staff are also being planned to familiarise officials with new statutory limits on issuing khatas in areas that lack formal planning approvals.​

The Authority has urged citizens to cross-check layout approvals, conversion orders and khata details on official portals or at designated help centres before buying sites or buildings in the Greater Bengaluru area. Officials say the Begur case will be treated as a “model inquiry” as similar complaints from other zones are examined for possible khata-related malpractice.​

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