Sikanderpur panchayat land row: Probe in final stage

A decade-long investigation into alleged irregularities in leasing out panchayat land of Sikanderpur village along MG Road to marble traders in 1999-2000 is in final stage, a senior official of the state vigilance department has said.

A decade-long investigation into alleged irregularities in leasing out panchayat land of Sikanderpur village along MG Road to marble traders in 1999-2000 is in final stage, a senior official of the state vigilance department has said.

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“The investigation is in final stage. We are in the process of completing the procedure for the prosecution of guilty officials. We hope it will take hardly two to three days,” said Sheel Madhur, IG (vigilance), refusing to reveal names.

The investigation began in 2001 with the vigilance department lodging FIRs against 31 traders who had been allotted plots on Sikanderpur panchayat land allegedly in contravention of the Punjab Village Common Lands Act of 1964. The FIRs were lodged at behest of the then deputy commissioner Gurgaon Krishan Kumar after complaints of corruption in the plot allotments during tenure of his predecessor.

The vigilance officials had also lodged FIRs against three officials — the then block development officer, panchayat secretary and sarpanch of Sikandarpur. When asked why the vigilance department kept mum all these years, Madhur said, “I cannot answer this query. I am repeating that the 10-year-long investigation may result into prosecution.”

The prosecution, if it happens, may result into cancellation of plot allotments. Besides, it may also help officials of Huda and MCG in convincing Punjab and Haryana High Court that the traders are illegally sitting on the panchayat land.

The panchayat land was leased out to Sikanderpur Market by the then village panchayat in 1999 for five years. In 2004, in a bid to shift the marble market from Sikanderpur, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) had allotted plots to marble traders in Sector 33-34.

It is alleged that many traders have been running their marble businesses from both sites — Sector 33-34 and Sikanderpur. Officials said many marble traders violated the terms and conditions of the lease agreement and sub-leased the allotted plots.