30 years on, probe indicts 8 revenue officials for illegal selling of ‘shamlat’ land

Patiala : An inquiry report has indicted eight officials of the revenue department for illegally selling 13,320 square yards of common panchayat land in Rajpura town of Patiala district more than 30 years ago.
Current value of land is ₹30 crore
The market value of the land sold in 1990 is around ₹30 crore, according to official records.
The inquiry was ordered on June 28, 2019, by the then Punjab chief secretary following a complaint filed by a Patiala resident. The report was submitted on December 4, 2023, people familiar with the matter said.
Patiala deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray said the inquiry report has been sent to financial commissioner (revenue) for further action.
Those indicted in the report include Satinder Kumar, who was sub-registrar of Rajpura in 1991; Ferozepur DC Rajesh Dhiman, who was sub-registrar of Rajpura in 2007; Gurmeet Singh, who was sub-registrar of Rajpura in 2009; tehsildar Rajesh Kumar; kanungos Dharam Singh and Balwinder Singh; and patwaris Surinder Mandal and Rupinder Singh.
Phone calls and text messages to Dhiman did not elicit any response.
Land sold to seven people illegally
The trail of embezzlement reveals that 31 villagers formed a committee to operationalise the land deal and sold the common panchayat land to seven persons on September 13, 1990.
Government records reveal that two of the seven buyers were already dead at the time of the registration. The land was mutated in the name of remaining five persons in 1991 allegedly in connivance with revenue officials. These owners further sold the land in parts in 2007 and 2009 in connivance with revenue officials, the inquiry report reveals.
“According to Section 2(G)(1) of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, the area (in question) was a shamlat land (common panchayat land). The title, rights, interest of this area used to be vested in gram panchayat, Rajpura. While deciding mutation, the assistant collector (SDM), Rajpura, should have checked as in what capacity these selling parties have the right to transfer the shamlat land. Revenue officials should also have verified whether the parties can sell the land before deciding to make any transfer according to the provisions of the Land Revenue Act. The committee had no right to transfer the area. It did not have the right to give power of attorney to eight members, nor did the members listed in the general power of attorney have any right to sell it through bidding. The members have illegally acquired the land,” reads the conclusion of the inquiry report.
Patiala resident Varun Malhotra, on whose complaint the inquiry was ordered, said: “The government is neither taking action against the responsible officials nor taking the legal possession of the common panchayat land. The land is near the national highway in Rajpura. The government has not named then Rajpura SDM, who initially mutated the land in 1994.”
After the Patiala additional deputy commissioner (ADC) submitted inquiry report on December 4, 2023, the deputy commissioner wrote to senior superintendent of police to register a case against the indicted officials. But no action has been taken so far.
Six officials have already retired
When contacted, financial commissioner, revenue, KAP Sinha said: “I have received the report. Only two government officials of the eight mentioned in the report are in service while others have retired. For two officers, I will write to personnel department to take action. As of others, the department (revenue) will take the matter into the civil court for action against them.”