Allotment of 210 acres scrapped

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Kaithal, January 30

In the Rs 105-crore land scam of Birthe Bahari village of Kaithal district, the Kaithal Deputy Commissioner (DC) today started cancellation of all land allotments of 210 acres made in violation of norms.

“During investigations of the matter by Kalayat SDM Ashwani Maingi, it came to light that many officials of various departments are involved in wrong allotments of 210 acres of agriculture land. Last evening, I held a meeting and today I have started cancellation of these allotments. We will take legal action against the officials involved in the scam,” said KM Pandurang, Kaithal DC.

As per information, before the separation of Punjab in 1961, the then Punjab Government gave land to refugees who migrated from Pakistan during partition on yearly lease in the village. But after the formation of Haryana, these refugees started requesting the government to allot the land to them permanently. The then Haryana Government on November 3, 1990, ordered permanent allotment to all persons, who were cultivating lands since 1961 and regularly paying their yearly land rent. A committee was formed under the then DC of Kaithal to allot all 649 acres on some terms and conditions while other senior officials from the Revenue Department and the District Welfare Office were made members of the committee.

The government put a condition that no one could sell the land for 10 years from the date of its allotment nor he could transfer it in the name of some other person. But the committee members allegedly allotted 40 acres to some influential persons of the village, who were not refugees, between 1994 to 2006. Over 170 acres were first allotted to some villagers, who were close to senior officials. Within a few months, it was sold to other influential persons of the village in violation to the condition prohibiting the sale of land for 10 years.

Many villagers who did not get their share of government land filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on October, 2013. On November 11, 2013, the High Court directed then Kaithal DC NK Solanki to probe the matter. The DC constituted a committee headed by the Kaithal ADC and he submitted his report on June 16, 2014, to the state government.

But dissatisfied with the findings, the then Hooda government sent back the inquiry report and ordered a fresh probe.

“The average price of per acre of land is Rs 50 lakh and the total value of all 210 acres involved in the scam is Rs 105 crore. I cannot disclose the names of the officials, but names of many senior officials of revenue and social welfare departments have surfaced during investigations,” said the Kalayat SDM.