IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU [SMT B S LATHA VS. CHIEF OFFICER AND ANOTHER]

17.03.2025 (VIDEO CONFERENCING / PHYSICAL HEARING)

CORAM: HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SURAJ GOVINDARAJ

ORAL ORDER

1. Learned AGA has filed the affidavit of the Director, Directorate of Municipal Administration, which reads as under;

AFFIDAVIT I, Prabhuling Kavalikatti, I.A.S., aged about 45 years, S/o Balappa, serving as The Director, Directorate of Municipal Administration, VV towers, 9^th & 10^th Floor, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar Veedhi, Bengaluru 560 001, do hereby solemnly affirm and state on oath as follow:

1. I submit that I am serving as the Director, Directorate of Municipal Administration, Urban Development Department, Bengaluru and I am aware of the facts of the case as borne out from the records. Hence, I am swearing to this Affidavit.

2. I submit that I am not a party to the above Petition.

I am insisted for certain information, that would help this Hon'ble Court, in the above Writ Petition. I submit that I am swearing to this affidavit abased on the records maintained in the office file.

3. I humbly submit that 21,02,283 properties are updated on e-Aasthi software where public can view digitally signed Form-3/2 at any time, as compared to 20,21,591 mentioned in the previous report.

4. I further submit that, Urban Development Department has started "e-Khata Abhiyaan"

campaign to compulsorily issue e-Khatas to all the properties within the ambit of Urban Local Bodies. I submit that I have all the ULBs to undertake this campaign so as to complete the issuance of e-Khatas to all including the old properties of ULBs in the state within 3 months. I submit that it is expected that around 30 to 35 lakhs more properties will come under digital form.

5. I submit that the Government has amended the Municipal Act to issue separate Form-3/2 (B-Katha) for unlawful properties amended to issue Form-3/2 (B-Katha) for authorized and unauthorized properties. I submit that by virtue of this amendment Urban Local Bodies would be able to digitize remaining properties in e-Aasthi application. I submit that a detailed circulars, SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) and FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) are shared to all the Urban Local Bodies across the state to facilitate the e-Khata Abhiyaan campaign. I submit that relevant sections of the Act and Rules are amened in this regard.

6. I submit that integration of e-Aasthi and Kaveri software of Registration department has been implemented in all the urban local bodies from October 2024. I submit that this will speed up the digitization process of properties.

7. I further submit that I have issued a circular to make all the property details across the state to be made available to public.

8. I humbly submit that, regarding Building Permission Application (Building License and Occupancy Certificate), a total of 1,67,791 digital signature building permits have been issued so far as compared to 1,63,771 building permits mentioned in the previous report.

9. I humbly submit that, regarding Vyapar application (Trade License), around 3,99,975 digitally signed Trade licenses have been issued through this application as compared to 3,86,075 mentioned in the previous report.

10.I submit that in Jalanidhi application Water connection and Internal Drainage Connection, around 1,20,210 digitally signed permits have been issued for new water connections as compared to 1,18,411 mentioned in the previous report. 1 submit that around 14,626 underground sewer connections have been given through the Jalanidhi software as compared to 14,405 mentioned in the previous report.

11.I submit that this office, the Directorate of Municipal Administration has made efforts to implement online application for birth and death registrations in all urban local bodies of the state and digitized birth and death records till the year 1990. Since the government has mandated e-Janma software in all Urban Local Bodies of the state from the year 2019, the digitized birth and death