Minister: 15 lakh properties in B'luru have forged Khatas

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda on Wednesday revealed that the state has around 1.2 crore registered properties with forged Khata documents, defending the government’s move to digitize property records during the Legislative Council session in Belagavi. Introduced in 2006, a Khata is a certified document that validates the ownership of a property. Initially introduced for agricultural lands, it later expanded to cover all types of properties in the city. In response to a question raised by MLC Shashi Namoshi regarding delays in issuing e-Khatas, Byregowda admitted that the system had initially generated only 200 e-Khatas per day.

“Now the system can handle downloads of 3,000 e-Khatas per day,” he said. Byregowda went on to list the benefits of the e-Khata system and highlighted the significant amount of forgery and corruption involved in obtaining a physical Khata. “In Bengaluru, Khatas for around 15 lakh properties have been found to be forged. At the village panchayat level, around 90 lakh properties have forged Khatas, and 30 lakh Khatas in municipalities,” he said.

He also observed that Khatas were forged at data-entry shops and were then registered at sub-registrar offices. This is why e-Khatas were introduced—to prevent forgery and corruption, while also increasing revenue. This statement comes amid a Karnataka High Court hearing challenging the mandatory use of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) e-Aasthi portal to obtain an e-Khata.