CHENNAI: For six years, over 450 families who bought houses at Thazhambur from a builder have been living in anxiety regarding the fate of properties situated on government land parcels, which were unlawfully sold to private individuals. The scam was exposed in 2019, however, the state government is yet to hold accountable the officials responsible for granting fraudulent land titles (pattas) for government land.
Hundreds of Thazhambur property owners, who invested between Rs 30 lakh - Rs 60 lakh to buy houses, laid siege at the builder’s office in Thiruvanmiyur on Saturday. “The revenue officials involved in this scam have not yet been arrested, but we have received repeated threats against protesting in front of the builder’s office,” Kalyan K, a resident said. Officials remain tight lipped citing pending cases in the high court and Supreme Court.
Residents say they have been making frequent visits to various government departments to safeguard their property which was bought using loans and hard earned money. “When we disputed with the registration department and bank officials questioning how such properties can be registered, we were informed that during 2018-19, the then sub-registrar declined to register these houses. However, the tahsildar at the time issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the registration department. No action has been taken against these officials till now,” A Ramakrishna, a resident said.
About 105 acres of government anadheenam land was illegally assigned to individuals between 2008 and 2019 and the scam involves officials ranging from tahsildar to IAS officers. In 2019, the Chengalpattu district administration uncovered the scam, revealing that government land situated along the IT corridor on Rajiv Gandhi Salai had been unlawfully transferred. This led to cancellation of 1,500 pattas and legal proceedings were initiated against three officials.
In addition to reclaiming the land, the administration also halted the registration process for 400 acres of land in the village classified as anadheenam in revenue records. Consequently, the sale of 505 acres, valued at Rs 2,500 crore, was suspended since 2020. Several legal cases related to these developments have been filed in the Madras High Court, and a special leave petition in the Supreme Court. The cases are at various stages in the courts.
As per official sources, in October 2021, then Chengalpattu collector A R Rahul Nadh forwarded original files to the revenue department, recommending punitive action against officials involved. However, no action was taken and criminal cases filed by the police have not progressed. Interestingly, some of the officials named in the files have been promoted, with an IAS officer being assigned a prominent role.When contacted by TNIE, officials said that the matter was brought to the attention of the government. Revenue officials said the anadheenam land at Thazhambur consists of parcels assigned to ex-servicemen, land reportedly gifted to Sadavarti Choultry a century ago and others.
“There is a pending case regarding the title dispute of the land parcels allegedly gifted to Sadavarti Choultry in the early 19th century between the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh governments. The entire 550 acres of land in Thazhambur belongs to the government. Necessary steps are underway,” said an official.