Property worth crores sold without owner’s knowledge

Complainant Tara Singh (65),who is the absolute owner of a shop-cum-flat (No. 8) in Sector 20-C — its market value is approximately Rs 6 crore — had engaged a lawyer based in Middlesex,UK,to get the property transferred in his name after his father’s death. According to officers,the lawyer had asked Tara to execute a general power of attorney in the name of his trusted man,Harnek Singh,a resident of Mohali,to facilitate the transfer. Tara executed the GPA on November 9,2006,though he did not give ‘sale powers’ to Harnek.

The matter got into a legal tangle when Tara’s brother Jaswant Singh,a resident of Chandigarh,and O P Mittal,a tenant staying in the SCF,colluded with Harnek Singh,through a local advocate,J B Singh,who was known to the UK-based lawyer and a few UT estate officials and filed a civil suit in the court of Judicial Magistrate Sudhir Parmar in Chandigarh. The suit was dismissed on March 21,2009.

In the first week of April,however,Tara learnt that the SCF had been sold off by Harnek and Mittal. “Shocked to learn that all these people have sold my SCF in connivance with estate officials,who issued an NOC on February 18,2009,and executed the sale deed on February 26,I came to India and met Deputy Commissioner R K Rao,” Tara said in his complaint,marked to the British High Commission,UT Administrator General S F Rodrigues (Retd),UT Vigilance department and the police.

A major goof-up was unearthed soon and Rao ordered immediate cancellation of the NOC,which was issued by the Estate Office on the basis of a forged GPA. Assistant Estate Officer Ashwani Kumar cancelled the NOC on April 20,2009,and also requested the sub-registrar to cancel the sale deed.

“But this land mafia is now threatening me to sell my SCF to them at throwaway prices,or else they will not let me sell it to any other person,” added the complaint.

Speaking with Newsline,Ram Niwas said: “It appears to be an organised nexus. The guilty will not be spared. I have issued strict instructions to my men to thoroughly investigate the case and arrest whoever is responsible for such illegalities.”

The Vigilance department has reportedly started conducting raids to arrest the accused.

Estate officials in the dock

A number of estate officials have come under the scanner in the case. “We have already zeroed in on certain officials,besides a few lawyers,who are suspected to be involved in this case,” said a senior vigilance official.

Many cases under scrutiny

The UT Vigilance department,on the basis of secret inputs,has raided various branches of the Estate Office in the last one week,and taken into custody a number of files pertaining to certain transfers and sales in which blatant illegalities have been committed. “We are still in the process of scrutinising the Estate Office records,which could unearth a major ongoing racket,” said another official of the department.