NEW DELHI: Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has approved an investigation by the Anti Corruption Branch (ABC) against three officials of the city government’s Revenue Department in an alleged land scam, a Raj Niwas statement said on Thursday. He also directed the Vigilance Department to submit the case of the then SDM, Hauz Khas, south district, who was allegedly involved in the matter, within a week, it said.
The matter pertains to the alleged sale of DDA land to private individuals by issuing a no objection certificate (NOC), it stated.
The approval for investigation has been accorded against former sub-registrar DC Sahoo, ex-kanungo Ramesh Kumar, and ex-tehsildar Anil Kumar, all previously associated with Hauz Khas, south district, Revenue Department, it said.
The land bearing khasra number 351 was acquired by the DDA in 1965. In 2019, Bala Devi filed an application with the Hauz Khas SDM seeking demarcation of the khasra. After demarcation by revenue officials, out of the total area of 44 bigha and 19 biswa, a piece of land measuring one bigha and five biswa was demarcated as private land, the statement said.
However, during a court case in the matter, the DDA took a contrary stance and said there was an illegal construction on DDA’s land, which has been demolished and the authority had taken possession of the land, the statement said.
Despite revenue records clearly indicating that the land belonged to the government (DDA), officials from the south district, Revenue Department issued an NOC to Devi. Subsequently, Sahoo went on to register the sale deed of the acquired land. This alleged act of “cheating and fraud” has resulted in wrongful revenue loss to the government, it said.
Since, there was an inordinate delay in the processing of these cases by the Vigilance Department, officers of the department dealing with cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act have been instructed to strictly adhere to the timelines stipulated in the Act and avoid delays in sensitive matters, it added.
