RTI activist accuses minister of encroaching land

A local RTI activist has accused Union Minister of State for Defence Jitendra Singh of encroaching on a land in his hometown Alwar, a charge rejected by the minister as a "politically motivated" allegation.
Activist Ashok Pathak alleged that approximately an eight-bigha of land in Kushalgarh area is registered as a government land in revenue record, which originally was with the minister's grandfather Tej Singh.
Tej Singh, who died in 2009, had surrendered the surplus land, which also included Kushalgarh, to the government in 2005 as per the order of Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Alwar, in accordance with a ceiling case.
Citing documents obtained through RTI, Pathak told reporters that despite the surrender, Jitendra Singh showed the land as the property in the name of his wife in the affidavit submitted before the returning officer at the time of filing nomination for the Parliamentary elections in 2009.

He alleged the land, located in the core of Sariska Park, was given on lease to a man on a rent of Rs 50,000 per month who is running a hotel and a bar on the land.
"The commercial activities on the land are illegal. It is a government land encroached by the minister," the activist said.
The minister rejected the allegation completely calling it "malafide" and "contemptuous".