Over 1,000 illegal land registrations in Ggm during lockdown; six officials suspended

Gurugram: As the scam of illegal property registrations continues to be unearthed in Gurugram, the Haryana government has suspended six local officials for illegally approving property registrations during the COVID-19 induced lockdown period.

The Chief Minister's Office here has also ordered a detailed inquiry against them. The state government has also decided to lodge FIRs against these suspended officials with sources in the district administration indicating that the role of more officials may come out in the coming weeks.

In fact, in light of the illegal registrations coming out in the public domain, the Haryana government has now also put land registrations on hold till August 17 until more information about the scale of criminality is unearthed.

When the scam finally came to light, it was revealed that more than 1,000 illegal land registrations had been done in Gurugram during the lockdown period from April 20 to June 18.

Taking advantage of the limited functioning of government agencies during the lockdown period, these registrars and tehsildars issued registries in a large number of illegal colonies and even the prohibited zone air force ammunition depot and land in the Aravallis.

The cases of illegal registries, however, is not a new phenomenon in Gurugram. This is being highlighted in the recent demolition drives by the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) here. Hundreds of residents are protesting against the officials for the demolition, who are claiming their properties were registered by these officials.

For a city where the residential property rates are still very high, a large number of illegal colonies have come up in recent years. According to official estimates, more than 1,500 acres of land have been converted into illegal residential colonies.

There are a large number of non-registered colonies around Gurugram in Sohna, Farrukh Nagar, and Pataudi where agriculture is being used to illegally draw residential plots, which can be sold to unsuspecting home buyers.

More than 40 people have been arrested and charged under Section 7 of the Haryana Urban Act, which entails a punishment of three years if found guilty. Officials in the DTCP have also claimed that they had acted against around 100 illegal colonies spread over 700 acres of land in the district. They added that the lockdown period was used by many local officials to register over 150 acres of land illegally, which were then developed into residential colonies.