Benami Property : Himachal vigilance demands seizure

By: Ravinder Makhaik

Shimla: Whereas the thorny issue of benami land deals is being examined by a one man judicial commission, state vigilance bureau after investigating one case has sought cancellation of land registration and seizure of highly valuable property in Kasauli for suspect illegality.

Documents available with Hill Post reveal that state vigilance bureau has sought permission from principal secretary home about cancellation of registration of over 17 bighas of land, with 3 cottages, as the property has allegedly been bought by obtaining a forged Himachali resident certificate.

The vigilance enquiry holds that one Rajender Pal Khosla, a builder and a resident of Noida, obtained a forged Himachali resident certificate by conniving with revenue officials in Kullu in November, 1997.

Interestingly revenue officials by tampering and overwriting the name of Khosla on a will deed registered in September, 1993, declared him as a foster son of widow who died issueless. With the forgery being detected, anti-corruption case was registered in October, 2009.

In between, on basis of being declared a foster son, a Himachali resident certificate was obtained by Khosla and 15 bighas and 12 biswas of land in Kasauli was bought in March, 1998.

Again, circumventing the conditionality of land purchase only being permitted to bonafide Himachali residents, Deepak Khosla, son of Rajender Khosla, in July, 2009 bought 1 bigha and 15 biswas of land in Kasauli that had 3 cottages on it.

With the police, during investigation, having arrested four people, including Rajender Khosla, over tampering with a will deed and readied a charge sheet for the courts, the vigilance bureau has demanded cancellation of the registration deed as it violated Section 118 of HP Tenancy & Land Reforms Act. The Act does not permit purchase of land in Himachal by any non-resident.

Separately, the one man judicial commission headed by Justice (retd) DP Sood is said to have examined about 2500 permissions granted by the government under Section 118 between the period 1.1.2003 to 31.3.2011. In all there are about 3400 such permissions facing scrutiny for any violations.

Sources disclosed that other than the permission granted, the commission had received about 150 complaints of benami land deals and had even drawn conclusions in some cases.

With the term of the judicial probe concluding in March, the report is expected to generate much heat for the ruling and opposition party with sale of land fast becoming a core issue in an election year.