Sub-registrar offices in the State, which have the dubious distinction of harassing the public, were left exposed. Following complaints from the public, 10 teams of Lokayukta officials carried out inspections of sub-registrar offices in Bengaluru and other parts.
During the inspection, they found touts and middlemen inside the offices and also found them allegedly collecting stamp fees, registration charges, and scanning charges that were more than specified.
The touts allegedly collected charges of ₹10,000 to ₹20,000 for city properties and ₹40,000 to ₹1 lakh for properties that fall in the limits of panchayats. At several sub-registrar offices, Lokayukta officials found touts in the office cabin of sub-registrars.
“It was difficult to differentiate between officials and touts since touts were acting as officials to execute the job,” said Lokayukta officials in their inspection report. The officials also found dereliction of duty on the part of sub-registrars and their staff members that include not wearing identity cards during working hours, name boards and designation of officials were not displayed, non-functional CCTV cameras, and cash register not being maintained for outsourced employees.
In June, following complaints from the public, Upa Lokayukta K.N. Phaneendra held a meeting and a decision was taken to form teams to inspect the sub-registrars offices. Ten teams of Lokayukta were formed and inspections were carried out at 43 offices in Bengaluru and other places.
Suo motu action
After finding irregularities and illegalities during the inspection, Lokayukta B.S. Patil has initiated suo motu proceedings. In an order issued on Tuesday, the Lokayukta said: ”It is unfortunate that the middlemen are allowed to operate within the premises of sub-registrar offices. They are collecting more money than the prescribed fee and stamp duty from the public to get the documents registered and also to obtain various certified copies from the office of the sub-registrar. It is impossible to believe that such middlemen/touts could operate from the premises of the offices without connivance of the sub-registrars and other staff. Therefore, stringent action is required to be initiated against such officers who have connived with touts to harass the public for extraneous considerations.”
The order also pointed out lack of supervision on the part of higher-ups in the department in functioning of sub-registrar offices.
The Lokayukta has instructed the Principal Secretary of Revenue Department, Inspector General of Registration, and Commissioner of Stamps, and other senior officials to file separate reports addressing the irregularities and illegalities. Sub-registrars and staff who were allegedly involved in illegalities and dereliction of duty have been asked to respond.
