E-Paper
Patiala: Punjab government corrects 1952 ‘mutation mistake’, to stake claim on prime land worth ₹1,200 cr
The reworked claim comes after an inquiry committee found out that the disputed government building of PWD B&R, which later housed the civil surgeon office, was legally never allotted to any private person
Correcting its mistake after 72 years, the Punjab government will submit a revised memorandum of appeal to the court to stake its claim on the disputed prime land, office of PWD B&R in the heart of the city, said to be worth ₹1,200 crore.
The reworked claim comes after an inquiry committee found out that the disputed government building of PWD B&R, which later housed the civil surgeon office, was legally never allotted to any private person.
The case dates back to 1952 when a private person, Kiraninder Singh, a scion of the Patiala royal family, was allotted land in the heart of the city.
The then patwari, despite there being no mention of the khasra numbers either in the allotment letter or in the rapat or the site plan, had erroneously mutated complete khasra No 104, where office of PWD B&R stood, along with 105 and 106 in favour of the then allottee in 1952.
The land was re-sold to private persons (Yashpal and others) in 2012. When the sale deed related to nearly 6,000 square yards (5 Bigha 19 Biswa) of the land was presented before the district registration authorities, it was found that the boundaries of the property, as mentioned in the sale deed, was the land owned by the government and occupied by offices of the civil surgeon and education department, which falls under khasra number 103.
While the government had been claiming its ownership over the land, claiming it to be part of Khasra No 103, the court ruled that the land was part of Khasra no 104, and the private person should be given possession of the land. Thereafter, the state government constituted a committee to look into the mutation done in 1952.
The inquiry committee discovered that then patwari, in 1952, committed the mistake and had erroneously mutated complete Khasra No 104 in favour of the then allottee.
In 2012, following the transfer, the vigilance bureau (VB) registered an FIR for the illegal transfer of government land. Then Patiala deputy commissioner Vikas Garg was also named in the case and had to remain in judicial custody for three months.
In 2022, all the accused, including Garg, were acquitted by the court. The court further said that the VB failed to prove that the building was on the government’s land.
In December 2023, the lower court decided in favour of Yash Pal and other petitioners. The government then formed an inquiry committee which submitted that the land was erroneously mutated.
“Since the Office of PWD B&R was not allotted and it is a part of khasra Number 104. The ownership of government on khasra No 104, corresponding to the area of the building (5 Bigha 19 Biswa as admitted to also by respondents) ought to have continued in the name of the government and rest of the area should have been transferred. As there was no khasra number mentioned in the allotment order, the then patwari erroneously, overlooking that office of PWD B&R is not part of allotment, mutated complete khasra number 104 in favour of the allottee and contrary to the contents of the order and the site plan. Thus mutation number 4014 is incorrect to the extent that out of khasra number 104, land measuring 5 Bigha 19 Biswa, consisting of the office of the PWD B&R as shown in site plan, ought to have been left in the ownership of the Sarkar Daulat Madar (government) and only rest of the part ought to have been mutated in favour of the allottee,” the committee report included.
Patiala deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray confirmed the development and said that based on inquiry, it has been conclusively proven that there is an error on the mutation record that needs to be corrected.
“Accordingly, the initial mutation has been corrected. The building of the office of PWD B&R, constituted in 5 Bigha 19 Biswa area of khasra No 104 of Village Patiala, having been not a part of the allotted property, has been reflected in the name of Sarkar Daulat Madar and only the rest of the area of khasra No 104, 105 and 106 shall stand transferred to the original allottee and the LRs/purchasers,” he said.
