In what could snowball into a major embarrassment for the Congress government in Karnataka, serious allegations of massive corruption and blatant irregularities have emerged in the allocation of shops and stalls under the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs).
Traders and farmer representatives have alleged that senior APMC officials, in collusion with a handful of traders, manipulated the auction process, sidelining hundreds of genuine license holders who have been waiting for shops for years.
The controversy first came to light after a written complaint was submitted to the Principal Secretary of the Cooperative Department by aggrieved traders, accusing officials of “pre-deciding” beneficiaries and manipulating the entire auction to benefit select traders at the Singena Agrahara fruit market near Bengaluru.
According to the complaint, serious irregularities were committed in the allocation of shops E-32, F-52, and F-56 in the Singena Agrahara fruit market in Bengaluru. The notification inviting applications for these shops was issued on March 13, 2025, but traders were given just three days to submit applications — a move widely seen as a deliberate tactic to block wider participation.
Shockingly, the public notice was published only in a few little-known newspapers that are not even circulated widely around the APMC market. As a result, most traders remained unaware that the stalls were up for allocation.
“There was no official meeting, no notice boards inside the market, no consultation — nothing. The whole process was quietly done to favour three chosen traders while thousands of genuine traders were left out,” the complainant alleged.
It is alleged that Banashankari Fruits, Manjunath Fruits and Singh International were handpicked in this questionable allocation process. According to the complaint, these traders even paid the user fee in advance — proof, the complainants say, that the outcome was pre-decided.
In a more shocking revelation, APMC Binnipet Secretary Suma, Administrative Officer Rajanna and shop owners have been named as masterminds of this “auction scam”. The complaint claims they manipulated the process to limit the number of applications, resulting in just 17 applicants despite more than 1,000 licensed traders waiting for shops for years.
The traders also pointed fingers at Market Committee Assistant Secretary Chitra and Market Supervisor Renuka, who have allegedly held the same positions for several years and developed “close ties” with a select group of traders. The complaint claims these officials have been distributing stalls in violation of APMC norms and state guidelines.
Worryingly, this is not an isolated incident. A separate case of bribery and illegal shop registration under the APMC also surfaced in Bidar. Kannada Samara Sene President Avinash Deene filed a separate complaint with the Cooperative Department, alleging that the APMC secretary had taken bribes worth lakhs from traders to illegally register stalls, even as related petitions were pending before the Kalaburagi Bench of the High Court.
In his complaint, Deene revealed that in May and June 2024, approximately Rs. 2–3 lakh was collected from each trader at Bidar’s APMC, in violation of government rules and court proceedings. He named multiple shops, including Madina Fruit Company, KGN Fruit Commission Agent, and New Royal Fruit, among others, that were registered through bribes despite legal restrictions.
Deene further claimed that APMC officials were supposed to collect Rs. 13 lakh, plus 12 per cent on the total shop value, as fines under departmental rules. Over eight years, this fine amounts to nearly Rs. 4.74 crore — revenue that the government has allegedly lost due to deliberate inaction and corruption. Instead, officials allegedly pocketed bribes of around Rs. 5 lakh from each shopkeeper to register them without penalty.
These revelations have sparked outrage among genuine traders and farmer groups, who now demand a thorough probe and immediate suspension of the accused officials. They argue that while the Congress government proudly advertises APMC reforms, these cases expose how deep-rooted corruption continues to cripple the system at the grassroots level.
Despite multiple written complaints, no concrete action has been taken yet. Traders fear that if the government does not intervene and order an independent inquiry, the entire auction system under APMCs will remain captive to backroom deals and vested interests, defeating the very purpose of fair and transparent agricultural marketing in Karnataka.
