Rs 4.5-cr scam unearthed in Panipat MC’s property tax branch

A Rs 4.5-crore scam has been unearthed in the property tax branch of the Panipat Municipal Corporation (MC), exposing a deep-rooted nexus of scammers manipulating property records using fake documents and unauthorised access to official IDs.

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In one shocking instance, the same properties were linked and delinked two to three times within a single day, with April 24 and May 5 recording the highest number of such fraudulent entries. Even ownership changes were processed based on forged documents — for example, one applicant submitted registration papers of a property in Kachroli village, which doesn’t fall within MC limits but rather under a panchayat jurisdiction.

The scam came to light when it was found that the official ID of the Joint Commissioner, Sanjay Kumar, was misused by his personal assistant (PA) to carry out numerous unauthorised entries — such as corrections in property IDs, ownership changes, tax category modifications, no-dues certificate issuance and more.

As per inquiry reports, while the Joint Commissioner officially approved only 74 files, the PA made over 400 entries in the system — none of which were documented or officially approved.

MC Commissioner Dr Pankaj Yadav constituted a high-level inquiry committee led by Additional Commissioner Vivek Chaudhary, Joint Commissioner Mani Tyagi and other expert members. The committee’s findings pointed to a much larger network involving officials from other branches and active agents within the MC and Tehsil offices.

“This is a big scam. We’ve written to the police department for registration of a criminal case and requested a thorough probe by the Vigilance Bureau,” said Yadav.

The MC has already written to the police to register a criminal case and has suggested the matter be handed over to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for a detailed investigation.

One such fraudulent transaction involved an unauthorised 147-square-yard plot in Dutta Colony, listed under a woman named Manju. The property was allegedly regularised in a single day on April 24 using the Joint Commissioner’s ID.

To prevent further misuse, the Commissioner said, “We’ve overhauled the arrangements in the tax branch. Now, only one person is assigned per ward, with four special checkers appointed to monitor them.”

“I have clearly directed that if pendency exceeds 10 for any maker (employee), strict action will be taken,” he added. Reports from the tax branch are now being reviewed on a daily basis, he confirmed.