Ludhiana: Patwari suspended over property record irregularities

The patwari is accused of wrongly transferring government land at Kuliyeval village in Ludhiana East tehsil

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.

According to the SDM’s report, a government-owned land was ‘illegally’ transferred to one Sukhwinder Kaur in 2022. (HT File)

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.