Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir ruling party, National Conference's Member of Parliament Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, has landed in soup as the union territory's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has filed a charge sheet against him and his close relatives in a 16-year-old case for the alleged withdrawal of fraudulent compensation for land and tampering with revenue records.
The ACB said it filed the charge sheet in the court of Special Anti-Corruption Judge Srinagar for judicial determination after it concluded its probe and after the accord of government sanction for launching prosecution against the 22 accused persons. The anti-graft body falls under the authority of the Lieutenant Governor as per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019.
The ACB, in a statement, said Ruhullah, his five close relatives, six retired government employees, and nine locals, including a deceased, conspired to fraudulently inflate land records at Rakh-e-Aerth in Budgam district to claim excess compensation of Rs 38.20 lakhs, which led to a loss to the state exchequer.
Rakh-e-Aerth is a wetland in the Budgam district in Srinagar's outskirts that has been built into a residential colony to rehabilitate Dal Lake boatmen whom the government relocated to decongest the water body.
The ACB had registered an FIR in 2009 against these 22 accused persons, including two collectors of Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA), four other retired public servants and 16 beneficiaries, after it had received a complaint about the fraud payments and land record tampering.
The statement said the charge sheet follows an investigation in a case FIR No. 18/2009 under Section 5(1)(d) r/w 5(2) of J&K PC Act Svt. 2006 and Section 120-B, 467, 468, 471 RPC.
“The instant case was registered based on the outcome of a Joint Surprise Check (JSC) conducted by ACB into the allegation of abuse of official position by the officers/officials of the Rukhs and Farms Department, Kashmir, by way of making insertions and tampering with the revenue records, which led to the subsequent drawl of fraudulent payments amounting to Rs 38.20 lakh against the excess state land shown allotted to Kamas (tenants) at Rakh-e-Aerth Budgam,” the ACB said.
“Through fraudulent mutations, the land in possession was shown as 60 kanals instead of 6 kanals under Khasra No. 1692, 40 kanals instead of 4 kanals under Khasra No. 1666/750 and 07 kanals 10 Marlas instead of 2 kanals under Khasra No. 1736,” it said.
Ruhullah Mehdi was not available for his comments. However, one of his close aides told ETV Bharat that the Aga family cultivated 80 kanals of land for paddy at Rakh-e-Aerth in Bemina in Srinagar's outskirts for decades.
He said when the government announced the rehabilitation policy for the Dal Lake dwellers to Rakh-e-Arth in 2006, the Aga family's land was identified, and they had agreed to vacate this land in lieu of compensation.
“Some land cultivators were not happy with the rehabilitation as they feared loss of land, so they complained to ACB and levelled some allegations of land tampering and inflated compensation,” he said, adding the Agas will contest the case in the court.
Also Read
