Moga ADC Charumita suspended in Rs 3.7-crore highway project controversy

The Punjab Government has suspended Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Moga, Charumita (PCS), with immediate effect, following serious allegations of irregularities in a Rs 3.7-crore land acquisition case linked to the National Highway-703 project.

An official order issued by the Department of Personnel (PCS Branch) under the direction of the Governor of Punjab, stated that the 2014-batch PCS officer has been placed under suspension under Rule 4(1)(a) of the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970.

During her suspension, Charumita’s headquarters will remain in Chandigarh and she will receive subsistence allowance as per service rules.

The move comes after the Public Works Department (PWD) formally charge-sheeted Charumita in September this year and called for a Vigilance Bureau (VB) investigation into the alleged manipulation and lapses surrounding a Rs 3.7-crore compensation award for land acquired along the Dharmkot–Shahkot stretch of National Highway-703.

The land in question was originally acquired in 1963 by the PWD (B&R), Ferozepur, for road construction and had remained in continuous public use for more than five decades.

However, in 2022, a Change of Land Use (CLU) was granted, allowing the land to be re-designated for commercial purposes, despite its longstanding use as part of a functional road. During the 2014 widening project under the National Highways Act, 1956, the land was “re-acquired” for the highway expansion, and in 2019, a compensation award of Rs 3.7 crore was issued—treating the land as a new acquisition.

The award, however, was allegedly approved without verifying original acquisition records from 1963. The irregularities came to light when the awardee approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking enhanced compensation.

While responding to the court’s notice, officials found that crucial acquisition documents were missing, prompting a court-directed inquiry led by the Deputy Commissioner, Ferozepur, who flagged “serious procedural lapses” in demarcation, evaluation, and record handling by Moga’s revenue officials.

In his observations dated September 17, Ravi Bhagat, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and Secretary, PWD, noted multiple contradictory demarcation reports issued between 2021 and 2025, and the recording of a partition mutation in July 2021, even though the land had been under government use since 1963.

He also highlighted that an inflated consent award of Rs 3.62 crore had been issued for just three kanals of land, far exceeding the prevailing market value. Following these findings, the Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Anurag Verma, has chargesheeted Dharamkot tehsildar Maninder Singh and naib tehsildar Gurdeep Singh for lapses in land demarcation and record verification.

The FCR has also ordered a fresh demarcation of the disputed land under the supervision of Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner Deepshikha Sharma and the District Revenue Officer, Ludhiana, in the presence of officials from the Vigilance Bureau, PWD, and NHAI.

The Vigilance Bureau is also investigating the conduct of all officers involved in the award and CLU approvals to determine if there was deliberate misconduct or collusion. Charumita, who was serving as Moga Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) at the time of the incident, has denied any wrongdoing, stating that she neither approved the CLU nor released the compensation.

“This issue relates to before my joining the government job,” she claimed. Moreover, “the SDM has no role in granting or approving CLUs — that authority rests with GLADA,” she said.

However, officials said her role came under scrutiny for not ensuring due diligence in the compensation process and for approving the award without verifying historical land records. With the suspension of ADC Charumita and chargesheets issued to two tehsildars, the investigation appears to be widening. Senior officials indicated that more officers from the Moga district administration and the PWD could face disciplinary action as the Vigilance Bureau delves deeper into the alleged land acquisition scam.