Khemka sought probe against babus,top politicians in panchayat land scam

“During inspection of land records,it was discovered that thousands of acres of panchayat land,after illegally being mutated in favour of owners,were subsequently partitioned into small parcels and sold. I request the chief secretary to see for himself the cases enquired of villages Baad-Gujar,Rozka-Gujar and Shikhopur in Gurgaon; Kot,Chirsi and Ankhir in Faridabad; and Malikpur Bangar and Kalesar in Yamunanagar,” he wrote.

In his letter,Khemka explained how the scam was run. “There are fraudulent transactions where a party sells the same property more than once. There are benami transactions where black money is recycled to evade the law. Another modus operandi adopted is to transfer possessory rights of panchayat lands without authorisation of the panchayat,” he said. “In some cases,the unauthorised occupants are industrial houses and senior officers. A particularly shocking case is of a senior IAS officer,retired in the rank of additional chief secretary and now re-employed as chairman of a regulatory body,who is reported to have constructed a building near Kalesar resthouse on panchayat land in the name of his nephew.”

Citing records of cases involving transfer of panchayat land to private parties — which he had collected from deputy commissioners just before he was transferred out — Khemka recommended a probe into the scam.

“The government may consider compiling a list of misappropriated panchayat land by way of changed ownership or unauthorised possession. A judicial inquiry is recommended to go into the question of continuing large scale misappropriation of panchayat lands despite a large number of judicial verdicts,” he said. “It is the duty of the state to register an FIR when any cognizable offence is brought to its notice. The high court has passed severe strictures against the conduct of the officers.”

When asked about Khemka’s findings,chief secretary P K Chaudhery said,“See,I am on a vacation. I would not like to say anything.”