Missing ’63 land acquisition record in double-relief case recovered

The discovery of a crucial 1963 land acquisition record is expected to open a new phase of scrutiny against several revenue officials in the alleged double-compensation case linked to the Dharmkot-Shahkot stretch of National Highway 703.

The development comes as the Vigilance Bureau has registered an FIR against Moga Additional Deputy Commissioner Charumita, former Public Works Department (PWD) executive engineer VK Kapoor and circle revenue officer Maninder Singh for allegedly approving a Rs 3.7-crore compensation in 2019 without verifying the original acquisition carried out by PWD (B&R) in 1963.

The state government had in the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) hearings maintained that the 1963 acquisition files were missing. On September 12, the Moga Deputy Commissioner submitted an affidavit stating that the record—except the Gazette notification, the unpaid register and the misalband—was “not available”.

The Court, in its orders dated October 29 and November 7, had expressed concern over the “unusual conduct” of the departments for failing to produce any record, and even warned of directing an independent agency to register FIRs against senior officials of the Revenue Department, PWD, Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA) Moga, and NHAI if the documents continued to remain untraceable.

However, on November 13, days after ADC Charumita’s suspension, the Moga district administration recovered the record, which confirmed that the land in question had already been acquired in 1963—raising suspicion that some individuals may have illegally claimed compensation again in 2019 by treating the same land as “newly acquired.”

Senior officials now say the rediscovery of the file has “completely altered the trajectory of the case” and may expose a larger nexus involving revenue staff who handled demarcation, verification, and land-ownership records over the years. With the High Court already noting the possibility of deliberate concealment of records and inconsistency in past demarcation reports, the recovery of the missing file is expected to intensify the probe. The Vigilance Bureau is now examining whether multiple landholders received compensation twice—first in 1963 and again during 2014.

Officials said the next phase could see several revenue officers—past and present—being questioned, given that Moga DC’s affidavit in the court had formally certified the missing status of the record that has now resurfaced.