Congress stages walkout over land scam in MP

The Congress today staged a walkout in Madhya Pradesh Assembly when it failed to get an assurance of a probe in an alleged land scam in Sagar district.
During Question Hour, the Congress members alleged that the title of a leased land in Sagar, located about 190 km from Bhopal, was registered in favour of a builder in violation of revenue laws.
Congress MLA Harsh Yadav said the lease of the 27 acre land was in favour of two brothers.
In January this year, the land's title was changed in the builder's favour in violation of revenue laws, he alleged.

"There is no rule to register the deed of 'change of title' of a leased land. But, Sagar district registrar has registered this deed in favour of the developer in which the estimated cost of land is shown to be Rs 35 crore," he said.
However, the market cost of the land is estimated to be much higher at Rs 650-700 crore, he claimed.

When Yadav asked how the land was registered in favour of the builder, MP's Revenue Minister Umashankar Gupta said, "The (Sagar) district collector had written a letter to the registrar for not registering the deed. But, still the registrar carried out registration of this deed."

"We have moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court against the registration of the land deed," Gupta said.
He pointed out that the deed was registered after the Revenue Board gave an order in favour of the builder.
Congress MLA Dr Govind Singh then said the market cost of the land is estimated to be around Rs 650 crore.
"The district collector had directed the registrar on June 6, 2016 that the deed for 'change of title' should not be registered. Despite the directives, the deed was registered (in January this year) in favour of the builder in violation of rules," he said.

This was done under pressure from some ministers, he alleged and demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter.
The other Congress legislators also stood up and supported the demand for a probe.
However, when they did not get any assurance of a probe, the Congress MLAs, led by Deputy Leader of Opposition Bala Bachchan, staged a walkout in the House while raising slogans against the government.