Several JK revenue officials booked for fraud

Several senior officials of Jammu and Kashmir Revenue department, including two former IAS officers, were today booked for allegedly granting undue benefits to a person under a scheme, causing a loss of nearly Rs one crore to the public exchequer.
"Vigilance Organisation Kashmir booked senior officers of Revenue Department for irregularities committed in the transfer of state land in District Srinagar under Roshni Scheme (State Land (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants (Act)," a spokesman of State Vigilance Organisation (SVO) said.
He said the officials had flouted several rules of the scheme which caused a minimum loss of Rs 97.70 lakh.

A verification conducted by Vigilance Organisation revealed that the price fixation committee had vested ownership rights in favour of Sajad Parvez for land measuring nearly one acre, even though he was not listed as the occupant of the land in the revenue records, the spokesman said.
He said the committee had treated the land given to Parvez under residential category and fixed rate of Rs 45 lakh per kannal (Rs 3.60 crore per acre) while fixing a rate of Rs 65 lakh per kannal for plots adjacent and opposite to the plot of the beneficiary.
The spokesman said the said land should have been treated under the commercial category, which would have increased the rate for the land.

The commissions and omissions on the part of price fixation committee in the conferment of ownership rights of state land to the non-entitled beneficiary constitute the offence of criminal misconduct, the spokesman said.
He said accordingly a case has been registered and investigation taken up.