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In Panchkula, land bought for Rs 1 cr, sold at Rs 5.8 cr in 21 days
Anti corruption bureau arrests tehslidar, says deal executed despite SC stay
The land in question falls under Raipur Rani tehsil in Panchkula district. (Image generated using AI)
A close associate of a revenue official in Haryana purchased 17 acres land for Rs 1 crore only to resell it three weeks later for Rs 5.8 crore — pocketing a neat profit of Rs 4.8 crore. The land in question allegedly belongs to the Pearls Group and the transaction was executed despite a Supreme Court stay on properties linked to it.
The deal, carried out in Panchkula, set the alarms bells ringing following which the Haryana State Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested Vikram Singla, the tehsildar of Raipur Rani tehsil.
The ACB told a Panchkula court that Singla, District Revenue Officer (DRO) at the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) Joginder Sharma, and a Bhiwani district resident Naveen “earned profits running into crores from this land”. Singla, 48, was arrested on January 31 and is currently in judicial custody after a five-day police remand. The bureau has confirmed that it intends to interrogate Sharma and his “associate” Naveen, and has already searched their premises. To avoid arrest, Sharma has moved a Panchkula court with an anticipatory bail plea, which will be heard on February 11. His counsel, Deepanshu Bansal, said the court has sought a response from the ACB on the bail application. Bansal, who is also representing Singla, described his arrest as “a violation of Supreme Court directions in the matter” and argued that “there is no allegation of either demanding or accepting a bribe against the revenue official”.
The land in question falls under Raipur Rani tehsil in Panchkula district and was allegedly part of the Pearls Group properties attached by the investigating agencies several years ago. The Central Bureau of Investigation had informed state revenue officials about these attachments in 2016 and again in 2019. According to the ACB, Singla executed at least five registries of Pearls Group properties. In one instance, a woman Baldev Kaur applied for the release of her 17 acres from attachment, and the land was cleared within days. On October 16, 2025, the land was registered in Naveen’s name for about Rs 1 crore. Just 21 days later, on November 6, 2025, Naveen sold it to four buyers for Rs 5.8 crore.
The ACB maintains that Singla was fully aware that the attached land could neither be sold nor transferred. It alleges that, in collusion with landowners, Singla registered the 17 acres in Naveen’s name and facilitated its release through a patwari within 13 days. Officials claim Singla then executed the registration, inheritance mutation, and sale deed in violation of rules, extending undue benefit to his associates and causing potential losses to Pearl Group investors. They also suspect “large-scale financial transactions in connection with the deal.”
Counsel Bansal countered the claims: “The record does not establish that the land concerned was part of the Pearls Group. The prosecution is insisting there was a Supreme Court stay, but at present there is nothing on record to corroborate this”.
“There is no case here. The investigating agency is proceeding on whims and fancies. The arrest of Vikram Singla is legally unsustainable. No notice was issued to him under Section 35 of the BNSS before action was taken. The agency failed to comply with Supreme Court directions in the Arnesh Kumar case. There is neither a complaint nor any aggrieved party in this matter,” he added.
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The Pearls Group is currently under investigation in a Rs 45,000-crore ponzi scam.
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