SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday said it had registered a case against the then Patwari Halqa Sunjwan and others for illegal mutation of land records.
A spokesman said that Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau registered a formal case FIR No. 17/2025 u/s 5(1)(d) r/w section 5(2) of J&K PC Act, Svt. 2006 and section 120-B RPC at P/S ACB Jammu against Aslam Din, then Tehsildar (Settlement) Jammu (now expired), Mohd Iqbal Zargar, then Patwari Halqa Sunjwan (now retired as Naib Tehsildar), as well as beneficiaries Mohd Rashid S/O Imam Din R/O Jalalabad Sunjwan Jammu, Mohd Mushtaq S/O Bashir Ahmad R/O Sunjwan Jammu and others, on the outcome of verification conducted into the allegations of illegal and fraudulent tampering of the revenue record of original owners in order to confer undue pecuniary benefit upon beneficiaries and corresponding wrongful gain to themselves.
“The verification conducted revealed that mutation No. 689/Jeem was attested under section 121 of Jammu and Kashmir Land Revenue Act covering land under khasra Nos. 918, 970, 994, 1024, 1623 and 1623 min at Village Sunjwan, Tehsil Bahu, District Jammu on 27.03.2010 by then Tehsildar (Settlement) Jammu. The land measuring 15 Kanals 14 Marlas was registered in the name of beneficiary Mohd Rashid and land measuring 69 Kanals was registered in the name of beneficiary Mohd Mushtaq and others,” the statement reads.
Financial Commissioner, Revenue Jammu and Kashmir, vide order dated September 26, 2017, set aside the impugned mutation No. 689/Jeem dated March 27, 2010 in question and directed the restoration of the entries which were existing prior to the attestation of the said mutation. Further, as per the Land Revenue Act, the attestation of mutation u/s 121 Land Revenue Act could be made only by a settlement officer but, in the instant case, the mutation was attested by then Tehsildar (Settlement), which was beyond his powers, the statement reads.
“The mutation in question was entered by then Patwari Halqa Sunjwan, namely Mohd Iqbal Zargar, when he was not posted in the said Patwar Halqa. The said mutation No. 689/Jeen dated 27.03.2010 was also attested in violation of Para-9 of standing order No. 23-A, as the same mutation No. 689/Jeem had already been attested in the year 2008 in the same village (i.e., two mutations having the same serial Nos. 689/Jeem were attested in the years 2008 and 2010 in the same village),” the spokesman said, adding that further investigation is going on
The family of the deceased tehsildar has contested the allegations, claiming that some revenue officials forged his signatures after his death and backdated them. They said the alleged entry was made barely three days before the officer’s retirement, while the FIR and investigation were initiated 15 years after his retirement and seven years after his death. The family has urged the ACB to re-investigate the matter and conclude only after a forensic examination of the signatures and record entries. (With inputs from KNO).
