Punjab top-shots own major land chunks in city periphery

In 2008 the Punjab and Haryana High Court had appointed Shekhar as the Investigating Officer,entrusting him with the task of probing the illegal properties belonging to various high-ups in Chandigarh’s periphery. The report categorically mentions that some of the properties detected during the investigation do not tally with the revenue records of the State.

Taking stock of the report submitted by Shekhar today,a division bench comprising Justice A K Goel and Justice Nirmaltjit Kaur handed over the report to the Punjab Chief Secretary and asked him to give his findings in the case. The case has been adjourned till April 2011.

The report reveals 49 properties belonging to various powerful people of Punjab state. The landowners include Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,former Chief Secretary V K Khanna. MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon,former Director General of Police S S Virk,Director (Vigilance) Sumedh Singh Saini,Mohali Senior Superintendent Gurpreet Singh Bhullar,former MP Surinder Singh Kairon,the Late Captain Kanwaljit Singh and his family members.

The report,however,also mentions certain police officers who have illegal possession on common (shamlat) land. Consider this: Retired SSP Gurcharan Singh Pherurai has a total of 25 acres excluding five acres of illegal possession; Inspector Gurmit Singh Pinki,presently convicted for life on murder charges,has around five acres of fraudulently acquired land; retired IAS officer J S Kesar Singh has four acres owned by him,and also around 12 acres illegal possession of village common land. The cases pertaining to Pherurai,Pinki and Kesar Singh’s illegal possessions are pending in the lower court.