Prime Banur land ‘transferred’ in name of pvt parties

Aman Sood
Tribune News Service
Patiala, November 15

Prime government land worth over Rs 250 crore in Banur has allegedly been transferred in the name of private parties reportedly in connivance with senior officers. The Municipal Council, Banur, and the local Congress MLA have approached the local police to expose what, they allege, is “a well-knit nexus”. The Municipal Council has also approached the court to belie the claim of some persons, who claimed to have bought the same land at throw-away prices.

Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that after the then sub-registrar declined to transfer the said land to private persons claiming that the “sellers were not the owners of this land”, senior officials asked the officer “to proceed on leave”. Later, another officer was deputed to ensure that the entire land was transferred. The Revenue Department has already ordered a probe into the issue.

According to documents in the possession of The Tribune, 30 persons, a majority of whom are not residents of Banur, and former sub-registrars and an incumbent sub-registrar have been named in a complaint shot to the Patiala police. The complaint, submitted by the Executive Officer, Banur, stated that 88 bighas of land had been transferred to various persons by unknown persons in connivance with Land and Revenue Department officials of Mohali. The complaint wants the police to ascertain the role of officials who executed the deal and take action against them.

“Revenue records show that different persons came into existence in the column of cultivation and the khasra girdwaris of the said land were also changed. All persons were sitting as tenants and as per law, they had no right to get the sale deeds registered, but they managed to transfer the land to other persons,” said the Executive Officer of the Municipal Council, Banur, Gurdeep Singh. “Khasra numbers have been tampered with and unknown persons have been shown to be in possession of this land, while in reality, the cultivation column had no mention of their names,” he said.

Officials connived and despite it being government land, the sub-registrar went on leave and the charge was handed to the Zirakpur sub-registrar, who allowed the transfer of land. “Instead of taking a no-objection certificate from the Banur MC, the sub-registrar allowed the transfer of land worth crores. As per rules, the deed cannot be registered without approval from our office,” said Gurdeep Singh in his complaint to the Patiala SSP.

Banur falls under the Mohali administrative jurisdiction and the Patiala police district. The 88-bigha land is situated near the national highway at Bhesi Isse Khan village, while another 112 bighas are located on the national highway around Banur.

“The total land measures roughly 200 bighas, while at present, we have identified 88 bighas of the said land. The rate at which the registries were done is much lower than the market price and it is a big fraud where senior officers posted in Mohali are directly involved,” claimed Rajpura MLA Hardyal Singh Kamboj. “Land sharks eyed this prime land and the Mohali district administration allowed them a smooth run to usurp government land. We will not allow this to happen and I will raise the issue in the Vidhan Sabha,” Kamboj told The Tribune.

Interestingly, an accused in the land scam had applied for approval of the site plan to the MC, Banur, but his application was rejected by the then MC authorities. Thereafter, the person approached the High Court, which asked the Banur MC to decide the case as per law. However, the then MC officials allowed only that particular case for site plan approval.

Meanwhile, buyers claim that they have legitimately bought the land from the persons who are named in the tenant column of the said land and therefore the MC has no stake in this property.

Rajpura DSP Krishan Kumar Panthe said he had summoned the parties who had bought this land and also municipal officials to verify their claims. “We will conduct a probe and register a case as per merit. Prima facie the council is the sole protectee of such land in the council jurisdiction. However, we are probing the case,” he said.

How it happened

The complaint was filed by the MC as a major portion of the land is owned by “abadhi deh” and was cultivated by “makbujaj bashindganh deh”, but after some time, in the cultivation column, some private persons came into existence and against these persons, it is specifically written “gair marusi” (tenant).

Revenue records show that the cultivation column and khasra girdawaris of the land also changed names at different times, but all persons are sitting as tenants. The tenants are not the owners of the land, but still managed to get the sale deeds registered without any authority.

A major portion of the land was being tilled by tenants of the village. In many khasra numbers, the names of persons changed with the passage of time. The modus operandi suggests that owners changed in the land records and without any NOC from the Banur MC, the land transfers were allowed.

30 persons, ex-sub-registrars named in complaint

According to documents in the possession of The Tribune, 30 persons, a majority of whom are not residents of Banur, and former sub-registrars and an incumbent sub-registrar have been named in a complaint shot to the Patiala police. The complaint, submitted by the Executive Officer, Banur, stated that 88 bighas of land had been transferred to various persons by unknown persons in connivance with Land and Revenue Department officials of Mohali. The complaint wants the police to ascertain the role of officials who executed the deal and take action against them.