Officials under scanner for illegal registries in Haryana

Allegations of registration of properties during the lockdown without obtaining the mandatory no-objection certificates (NOCs) points to lapses on the part of the town and country planning department as well as the urban local bodies department.

It is alleged that over 25,000 sale deeds were registered without taking NOC from these departments following connivance between the registry staff and local property agents.

Sources said the majority of the registries were done in violation of the Periphery Area Control Act as well as the local body rules. As per norms, an agriculture land falling under the control area cannot be bifurcated below the size of 1,200 square yard.

Some illegal colonies were allegedly carved out, especially in the NCR areas of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Palwal, Sonipat and Bahdurgarh, either by forming groups to get plots of 1,200 square yard size or above registered, or bifurcating the plots on their own without obtaining the NOCs. Although the town and country planning department can register an FIR over violation of Periphery Area Control Act, no action is learnt to have been taken so far.

The officials of the town and country planning department, including ACS A K Singh and director general K M Pandurang, remained inaccessible for comments, while the sources in the urban local bodies department said their role is limited to checking illegal construction activities.

Even as opposition parties have launched an attack on CM Manohar Lal Khattar and DyCM Dushyant Chautala on the issue, calling it a “land registry scam”, Chautala has said, “The hue and cry is only because we have started plugging loopholes. It’s for that reason that we stopped registration of properties. Now, you will have a stronger, safer and transparent registration system.”