Land gifted for education, diverted to landlords

Land gifted for education, diverted to landlords

According to detailed representations submitted to the Revenue Department, a woman philanthropist from the Vokkaliga community executed a registered will in 1962 bequeathing about 96.35 acres in Sajjepalya and Malagala villages of north Bengaluru taluk for religious purposes and, crucially, for the education of poor rural Vokkaliga children. Her relative was appointed executor, and in 1978 a registered educational and charitable trust was formed in the name of the donor and transferred to the State Vokkaliga Sangha to run educational institutions on this land.

The complaint alleges that, instead of being fully used for this public and educational purpose, around 52 acres out of this trust land were gradually grabbed in the name of bogus “tenants” and powerful landlords from the Kamakshipalya area, with the aid of falsified records and the misuse of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act. Revenue entries were allegedly altered, and land reform provisions that clearly exempt public, religious and educational trust lands were twisted to help private parties secure ownership.

Names of alleged illegal beneficiaries

The documents place a harsh spotlight on a group described as landlords and their family members, who are accused of having secured illegal entries and tenant claims over the trust land in Sajjepalya and Malagala. Among those named in the representations as having benefited from allegedly unlawful mutations and grant orders are:

• Mariyappa

• Gopalakrishna Gowda

• Kempachannayya

• Nanjappa

• T. N. Javarayagowda​

• B. S. Mariswamappa

• Sudharani

• Karnataka State Government (insofar as BDA is shown over part of the Malagala land)​

• BDA in respect of Survey No. 43 of Malagala village

• Thimmappa

• Pillamma

• K. M. Chandrashekar

• K. M. Janardhan

• K. M. Sampath Kumar

• K. M. Anusuya

• K. M. Yashoda

• Jyoti

• Rashmi

• Deepu

The petitioners assert that these individuals and entities obtained land by projecting themselves as tenants and by filing applications before the Land Tribunal, despite the land being in the name of a charitable educational trust, which they say is legally exempt from such tenancy regularisation.

Legal findings and ignored warnings

The representation recalls that the Karnataka Land Reforms Act explicitly exempts religious, public and educational charitable trust lands from being granted to so‑called tenants, and that mere cultivation on trust land does not create a tenancy right. It further cites High Court and Supreme Court orders which, according to the complainants, confirm that such trust lands cannot be regularised in favour of private individuals on the ground of tenancy.

They point out that a Karnataka High Court writ appeal order in 2010 imposed restraint on altering records, yet revenue accounts were allegedly changed in favour of landlords and their family members in multiple mutation registers after that date, in what is described as blatant contempt and violation of the donor’s will and the trust’s bye‑laws. Regional Commissioner’s enquiry reports and recommendations, as well as the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Petitions Committee report, are invoked to argue that the 52 acres wrongly granted must be restored to the educational trust and corresponding MR entries in the names of these landlords must be cancelled.

Swamiji questioned: time for movies, but not for the poor?

Against this background, angry voices within the Vokkaliga community are now directly appealing to Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji of BGS Mutt, accusing him of remaining a distant observer while ordinary Vokkaligas fight rich “landlords” with nothing but self‑respect and courage inspired by Nadaprabhu Kempegowda. They sarcastically remark that if the Swamiji can devote precious time to watching a popular film about landlords and oppression, he must also spare time to understand how a real‑life landlord raj is allegedly dispossessing the community’s educational trust land in Sajjepalya and Malagala.

The article‑style appeals urge the seer to step beyond symbolism and actively intervene using his moral authority and institutional clout to demand that the 52 acres be restored to the Krishnappa–Rangamma Educational Trust for the benefit of poor Vokkaliga children, just as the original will intended. They emphasize that silence from a powerful mutt when community land and the will of a celebrated woman donor are under threat sends a dangerous message that money and influence can override both law and dharma.

Call for BGS Mutt to emulate earlier reformist voices

While sharply questioning Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji’s current inaction, the community also holds up other Vokkaliga spiritual leaders as examples. Sri Nischalanandanatha Swamiji and Sri Siddharamachetanya Swamiji are praised for their openness and concern for the Vokkaliga cause and for supporting efforts to restore the 96.35‑acre legacy to its original educational purpose under the will of the donor.

Supporters argue that these leaders have moral clarity but lack the institutional resources and reach that a large institution like BGS Mutt enjoys. They insist that if the late Balagangadharanatha Swamiji were alive, he would have stood firmly with the common Vokkaliga against land grabbers and would have mobilised the mutt’s influence to secure justice for the trust and its beneficiaries.

In a pointed message to the present pontiff, the emerging community narrative is blunt: if there is time to watch a film about landlords and oppressed villagers, there must be time—and courage—to confront real landlords misusing the law, to challenge false entries, and to reclaim every acre meant for the education and upliftment of Vokkaliga children.