Compensation for already acquired land: Punjab govt suspends Moga ADC

The order, issued by Punjab chief secretary KAP Sinha, further adds that during suspension Charumita’s headquarters will remain in Chandigarh, and she will receive a subsistence allowance.

A senior official from Moga district administration said a piece of land was acquired in 1963 for a road construction.

However, in 2021-22, Charumita, as then sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Dharamkot, again issued its calculation for consent based award and sent it to the XEN PWD (NH) allegedly without checking previous records.

The award, amounting to Rs 3.63 crore, relates to Dharamkot-Shahkot stretch of the New National Highway (NH)-703.

“In 1963, the land was reportedly acquired by Land Acquisition Collector (LAC), Jalandhar. But now a part of those records including payment register and other records of 1963 are missing. An FIR for the same has been registered in Ferozepur,” said a senior official from Moga.

Dharamkot was earlier a part of Zira in Ferozepur district and merged into Moga only after the latter was carved out as a separate district.

The irregularities came to light when the awardee, whose land measuring around 2 kanals was acquired in 2014, approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking compensation even as the Punjab government and the NHAI said that the land was already acquired in 1963. The matter is now sub-judice with several departments including the NHAI, the Punjab PWD, Vigilance etc presenting their sides.

Denying any wrongdoings, Charumita had earlier said that the case in the High Court is for seeking the compensation which has been sent by the NHAI into the account of SDM without checking if proper approval to the award was granted by Ministry of Road, Transport and Highway (MoRTH) via the PWD.

“The due process was to be followed by the XEN PWD by sending the award for approval to MoRTH, not the SDM. The bottom line is that the award never got approved by XEN PWD from MoRTH, the amount was deposited by the NHAI without checking the approval and the compensation amount is safe in the SDM account and has not been granted. The money is lying intact in SDM account and has not been disbursed to anyone,” she had told The Indian Express.

From the homepage

Bihar Election 2025 Exit Polls LIVE Updates: NDA likely to form govt in Bihar, predicts 8 exit polls

Nithari killings: Supreme Court acquits Surendra Koli in last pending case, orders his release

A ‘different’ BJP in Bihar: Why the party’s Hindutva pitch is subdued in the state