The deputy commissioner (DC) has suspended patwari Sukhwinder Singh Sodhi, posted at the Ludhiana East tehsil, over alleged irregularities in property records and asked him to file a written response regarding the allegations within 15 days, officials said.
HT has seen a copy of the notice. The notice, issued under the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970, comes after recommendations from sub-divisional magistrate (East) and tehsildar (east).
According to the SDM’s report dated February 2 and tehsildar’s letter issued on March 5 last year, the patwari is accused of wrongly transferring government land in Kuliyeval village in Ludhiana East tehsil.
The report says government-owned land was ‘illegally’ transferred to one Sukhwinder Kaur in 2022.
However, civil judge (junior division) Harpreet Kaur Nafra had in a 2017 judgement regarding the land in question said it was government land ownership could not be claimed by any individual. The judgment came in a 2014 case filed by Sukhwinder Kaur, claiming ownership of the land on grounds that she had been living there for a long time.
It was alleged that the accused patwari failed in his duty and acted negligently.
{{/usCountry}}It was alleged that the accused patwari failed in his duty and acted negligently.
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