The office building of the improvement trust in Hoshiarpur near the central jail was auctioned on Friday for failing to pay compensation to landowners for a property acquired in 2011. The land was put up for sale on the orders of the district and sessions judge.
The landowners had sought an enhancement of ₹7 crore above the compensation determined by the trust, but the latter ignored their claim, prompting them to file a suit in court. On December 6 last year, the court ordered the sale of the trust land, measuring about 90 marlas, and notified the auction dates. The land was eventually sold on Friday by court-appointed auctioneers for ₹4.23 crore, with the court calling for an execution report on February 7.
While improvement trust chairman Gurvinder Singh Pabla claimed an appeal was still pending in the Punjab and Haryana high court, petitioners’ counsel Ajay Chopra said that the execution proceedings began after the appeal was dismissed. He added that the legal battle would continue until the trust pays the entire outstanding amount. The building under the hammer also houses a Punjab National Bank branch and its ATM, which generated a monthly rent of ₹1.60 lakh for the improvement trust.