Ludhiana man protests outside LIT office over delay in registration of plot

To support Jatinder Pal, a resolution approved by LIT was also sent to the government for approval, but the government has not taken any final decision on the same, said LIT chairman Raman Balasubramaniam

Forced to make rounds of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) office for the last six years to get a registry of his house done, a resident of BRS Nagar block-J, Jatinder Pal Singh staged a protest outside the trust office in Feroze Gandhi market on Tuesday.

A BRS Nagar resident, Jatinder Pal Singh has been making the rounds of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust office tor the past six years. (HT Photo)

Holding a placard in his hand accusing LIT officials of corruption, he claimed that even after transferring the ownership of the plot on his name, LIT was not getting the registry done citing vigilance inquiry and a pending case in the high court. He claimed that even the facts of the case were clear and the ownership had already been transferred to his name.

Accusing the LIT officials of asking for a bribe of ₹2 lakh for getting the registry done, Jatinder Pal stated that he had applied with LIT in 2015. At that time, LIT officials wrongly showed a default in the payment for the plot and asked for a bribe of ₹50,000 for resolving the issue, he alleged.

“I denied and started pursuing the case at the state level. A complaint was also filed with the CM office, following which a vigilance inquiry was marked in the case, which is still pending. A petition was also filed in the high court and the court directed the LIT to take the final decision on whether the department wants to get the registry done or not based on the facts of the case. In 2018, the department admitted that there is no default on payment and transferred the ownership of the property on my name. But for the last two years, the department is not allowing the registry of the property done on my name,” said Jatinder Pal.

“I have been forced to make rounds of the office and the department officials demand ₹2 lakh bribe for clearing the case. Even LIT chairman Raman Balasubramaniam has failed to provide any relief,” he said.

Meanwhile, Balasubramaniam said a vigilance inquiry was marked against few cases in the past, including the case of Jatinder Pal, and a case regarding the matter is also sub judice in the Punjab and Haryana high court. “To support Jatinder Pal, a resolution approved by LIT was also sent to the government for approval, but the government has not taken any final decision on the same. There is no delay on the part of LIT and the allegations being levelled by Jatinder Pal are baseless,” said the chairman.