Gujarat government suspends IAS officer for ‘negligence’ in land-related matter

The move, according to officials, was aimed at facilitating the subsequent sale of the land to a real estate developer through the non-agriculture (NA) process

The Gujarat government on Monday suspended IAS officer Aayush Oak, who was serving as the collector of Valsad district, for negligence in a land-related matter, an official said.

(Representative file photo)

“The land bearing survey number 311-3 in Dumas, valued at approximately ₹2,000 crore, was reportedly transferred to a tenant farmer named Krishnamukhlal Shroff by Oak without appropriate documentation and in violation of regulations,” a senior government official told HT on condition of anonymity.

The move, according to officials, was aimed at facilitating the subsequent sale of the land to a real estate developer through the non-agriculture (NA) process.

According to investigation done by the revenue department, there is no record of any order by the mamlatdar or the agriculture committee establishing Shroff as a tenant farmer, he added. Yet, the land was transferred in his name, and the government land was illegally acquired.

Collector Oak allegedly ordered the entry of the tenant farmer’s name two days before his transfer, the official said.

The suspension order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) stated that Oak’s actions had “caused a situation involving a huge financial loss” to the government exchequer while handling matters related to revenue land between June 23, 2021, and February 1, 2024, when he was posted as the Collector of Surat.

During the suspension period, Oak will not leave the headquarter (district Patan) without prior approval of additional chief secretary of Gujarat (personnel), GAD, the government order stated.

In 2015, a petition heard in the Gujarat high court revealed that the regional office report also confirmed that the land was government-owned and was illegally transferred to the tenant farmer’s name.

This was in gross violation of the Gujarat Tenancy Act, 1948.

Furthermore, reports suggest that in 2005, the same land was transferred to Rajendra Shah, Dharmendra Shah, and Sugamchand Shah.

Congress leader Tushar Chaudhary wrote to Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, raising concerns over the alleged land-related case on May 20 this year.