Srinagar, April 13: National Conference MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi on Sunday expressed surprise over the chargesheet filed against him by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in a two-decade-old land scam case, saying neither did he receive any legal notice nor was he questioned about the alleged irregularities.
Mehdi, a prominent Shia leader, was among 22 people named in the chargesheet filed in the case by the ACB on Saturday.
“It is as a much a surprise to me as it is to the people. On the day of the chargesheet, I came to know about this land scam,” the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar said.
Ruhullah said in the past 20 years, there was no communication in the form of notices or questioning from the ACB.
“If the crime was committed 20 years ago where were the administration, ACB and police? Questioning should have happened. I didn’t get any legal notice,” he said.
The case was registered on the basis of a joint surprise check conducted by the ACB into allegations of abuse of official positions of the Rukhs and Farms department in Kashmir, an ACB spokesperson had said on Saturday.
He said that the alleged irregularities were done by way of making insertions and tampering with the revenue records which led to the subsequent withdrawal of fraudulent payments against the excess state land and shown allotted to Kamas (tenants) at Rakh-e-Aerth Budgam.
The MP said the government acquired land at Rakh e Arath for the rehabilitation of people living in the Dal Lake for which the land owners were compensated.
“Initially, the government paid compensation only to those who had land registered as owners. There was a protest by those who were land tillers and were also demanding compensation. Later they were paid compensation,” he added.
Ruhullah said there was some land registered in the name of his grandfather in the acquired area.
“By virtue of being a heir, I also received compensation for my share of land that I had inherited from my father who had inherited it from his father,” he said.
According to the ACB, the case was registered under the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act Svt. 2006 read with 120-B RPC in ACB Srinagar for further investigation.
During the JSC inspection, conducted into compensation payments made for the rehabilitation of Dal dwellers, it was revealed that the officials of the Revenue and Agriculture department “conspired” with certain beneficiaries (Kamas/tenants) to “fraudulently inflate land records” to claim excess compensation, the ACB spokesperson said.
“These officials abused their positions to show excessive land possession in favour of beneficiaries leading to undue payments and losses to the state exchequer,” he added. The losses amounted to Rs 38.20 lakh.
“Through fraudulent mutations, the land in possession was shown as 60 kanals instead of 6 kanals under Khasra No 1692, 40 kanals instead of 4 kanals under Khasra No 1666/750 and 07 kanal-10 marlas instead of 2 kanals under Khasra No 1736,” the spokesperson said. — (PTI)
