Punjab: SC cancels bail of 2 accused in Mohali land scam

The Supreme Court overturned the High Court’s bail order, stating it is “unsustainable” given the evidence, including original trust deeds (dated January 14, 2002) and sale documents (January 16, 2002) produced before it.

This would mean that the accused can now be arrested by the police.

The SC also clarified that its observations “will not influence the trial’s merits”, and any future bail pleas must be evaluated independently.

When contacted, Sohana SHO Simran Singh said that the accused should either surrender themselves at the police station, or “we are going to take further action to arrest them by issuing an arrest warrant as per the law”.

The case

The case (FIR No. 510, dated December 24, 2023) was registered at Sohana police station, SAS Nagar (Mohali), based on a complaint by Ekjot Singh, a lawyer and landowner representing the trust. Singh accused the defendants of orchestrating a plot to fraudulently seize approximately 49 kanal 9 marla of trust-owned land through forged documents.

The Supreme Court noted that the accused used fabricated documents, including fake trust deeds and consent letters, to secure Change of Land Use (CLU) approval. They allegedly misrepresented government and panchayat land as private property to facilitate the land grab.

Trustee Rajmohan Kaur clarified that she never signed any documents authorising changes to the trust’s leadership, contradicting claims made by the accused.

Scale of the scam

The court pegged the scam’s estimated value at Rs 250 crore, while the trust’s current landholding is valued at Rs 50 crore. The accused also allegedly misled the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and investors.

The bench emphasised that the case transcends a mere property dispute, describing it as a “sophisticated fraud impacting the public, government agencies, and state land”. The accused reportedly manipulated records to create a false narrative of private ownership over public land