BHUBANESWAR: The land administration system in the state, particularly in the most sought after capital region, seems to have fallen into a vice like grip of the land mafia and real estate operators with tehsildars playing the role of obliging facilitators.
The extent of corruption has been exposed by the additional commissioner of the Additional Revision Court, Bhubaneswar, Pradeep Kumar Nayak highlighting how tehsildars in Khurda district have illegally effected mutations and corrected record of rights (RoRs) by undermining and subverting the law.
In a letter (accessed by The New Indian Express) to the additional chief secretary (ACS) of Revenue and Disaster Management (R&DM) department, the additional commissioner of Court-I, II and IV has flagged serious concerns over illegal land mutations and arbitrary corrections in RoRs by the tehsildars of Bhubaneswar and Jatni in connivance with real estate operators and land mafia.
“During hearings in the court, it was found that the tehsildars of Bhubaneswar and Jatni have corrected RoRs involving transaction of the suit land in Sabik (old) RoRs, which is illegal and arbitrary. This undermines the authority of the Board of Revenue and the R&DM department as the illegal mutation is not tenable in the eyes of law and they have clearly guided by pecuniary/extraneous considerations,” the letter stated.
Stating that the illegal mutations by tehsildars is nothing but a blatant violation of the Orissa High Court’s judgment in Harihar Mohapatra vs Commissioner of Land Records and Survey (OJC No. 9621/1996) case, the additional commissioner said, the judgment clearly prohibits tehsildars from admitting mutation applications related to pre-settlement land transfer transactions that occurred before the final publication of Sabik RoRs.
Acting on the verdict, the state government had issued an order in May 1999, restricting revenue officers from entertaining such mutation requests. “It is a corrupt and criminal practice as there have been cases of illegal settlements/RoR corrections of government land/deity land/common property resources.
This amounts to disrespect to law abiding citizens fighting their cases in revision courts and it is a case of criminal conspiracy by tehsildars and builders/land mafia by bypassing Revision Courts,” the letter state.
Addl commissioner seeks immediate cancellation of RoRs
It has been found that the mutations and RoR corrections were done in exchange of illicit benefits. In some cases, revision petitions were already pending before the Revision Court, but the petitioners, allegedly in collusion with revenue officials, went ahead and secured favourable RoR corrections from the tehsildars, thereby bypassing the judicial process.
Nayak listed out a number of cases in Bhatkhuri, Janla, Sathuakera-Gopalpur, Ogalpada and Harapur mouzas under Jatni tehsil and Andharua, Gothapatna, Krushna Nagar, Dumduma and Gadakana mouzas under Bhubaneswar tehsil, in which RoR corrections, in some cases from government land and ‘anabadi khata’, and illegal mutations have been made in violation of R&DM department’s order.
Underlining that failure and delay in initiating enquiry and disciplinary proceedings will not prevent the corrupt practices by tehsildars, Nayak has urged the ACS to treat these illegalities sincerely and take necessary action. He has proposed urgent reforms in the digital infrastructure managed by NIC and the Directorate of Land Records and Survey (DLRS) by introducing mandatory certification in the online mutation software.
He also recommended immediate procedural guidelines for the cancellation of all illegally modified RoRs. Additional chief secretary of R&DM department DK Singh did not respond to calls and messages from TNIE.