Srinagar, Nov 05: In a case of a land fraud carried out by government officials, the district administration in Shopian on Monday conceded in court that an irregular allotment of 20 kanals had been made by the former deputy commissioner, but that the order had now been quashed.
Arguing that land allotment had been cancelled only after its illegality was exposed, the petitioners have asked the court for a thorough investigation into the entire affair so that the accused do not go scot free.
The case had been filed by a Shopian citizens group alleging that the former deputy commissioner for the district, Dr. MS Sood, who presently heads the JKHPMC, had illegally allotted the land near the Mughal Road to the son of a then-tehsildar through an order issued on November 11, 2011.
Filed before the district and sessions judge, the public interest petition had said that the deputy commissioner had misused his official position to favour Rameez Raja, the son of the then Shopian tehsildar.
Transferred to the sub-judge, the case was under hearing during which the court repeatedly called for complete records from the district administration which the latter avoided for long, sources said.
But during a hearing on Monday, officials told the court that a land allotment had in fact been made by the former deputy commissioner, but the order stood cancelled as of now.
Counsel for the accused produced documents showing the cancellation, but the petitioners were not convinced, saying this was an obvious attempt at cover-up since the allotment had been quashed only after the fraud came to light.
The court has fixed the next hearing for December 6. Observer News Service
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