1996 Land Deal Fraud Case: Builder Raman Patel gets 4-year jail term

The court also ordered remittal of Rs 1 lakh from Patel’s fine to the legal heirs of the land owner defrauded by Raman.

According to District Government Pleader Pravin Trivedi – who represented the prosecution side – five other accused persons in the case are absconding, including Raman’s brother Dashrath.

Both Raman and Dashrath were witnesses of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a 2005 criminal case, popularly known as the 2005 Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case.

The case is related to registration of two sale deeds related to two land survey numbers of Chekhla village which belonged to “restricted tenure land type”.

According to the prosecution’s case, the accused – along with other co-accused – registered two sale deeds related to the two land survey numbers before the Sub Registrar Office in Sanand in the names of 52 companies of their family members in January 1996. The companies belonged to Raman and his family members.

The accused allegedly prepared and used a false and forged order purportedly issued by the Mamlatdar, Sanand, converting the land from new tenure to old tenure.

An FIR in the case was registered in December 2023 by Kanu Patel, legal heir of Jiva Patel, who was allegedly defrauded. The two land parcels were his ancestral property. Patel, who is facing several criminal cases against him, and in jail since 2020, was arrested in December 2023.

A criminal trial in the case was conducted by the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ronakben Shah, which pronounced its verdict convicting Patel under five charges related to forgery and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code. The court, meanwhile, acquitted Patel from the charge of criminal breach of trust under IPC’s provisions.

During the hearing on deciding the quantum of sentence after declaring the accused as guilty, Raman’s lawyer had demanded minimum punishment considering his old age and age-related ailments, among other things. The court observed it is not inclined to impose rigourous imprisonment on Raman, but considering the gravity of the offence, it was not appropriate to accept the prayer of convict for leniency.

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