The documents produced by Harrison Malayalam Limited to prove its ownership of 26,000 acres of land were forged, a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau probe has revealed. The bureau will soon submit its report to the State government.
The probe into the authenticity of a document (1600/1923) declaring ownership of 25,630 acres registered at the Kollam Principal Registration office, found it was fabricated in England. The government ordered the vigilance probe following a request in the High Court from Susheela Bhat, Special Government Pleader for the Revenue Department.
The probe has found marked differences between the lithographic maps submitted by the company and the government.
The document produced by Harrison Malayalam for the land registered in 1923 was of high quality paper with watermark of John Dickinson & Company. The probe has revealed the paper used was not in currency then. The diamond-shaped conch insignia of the Travancore royal family embossed on the document did not match the egg- shaped on other documents registered at that time.
According to Travancore Stamp Paper Regulations, high-value stamp paper had to be bought from the erstwhile Travancore Government Treasury. The stamp papers of the company, valued at Rs.43,000, used for registration were declared fake as they did not mention the names of the buyer or the seller.
In the maps produced by Harrison Malayalam, showing ownership of estates in Kollam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam districts, the measurements are in terms of hectares. However, ‘hectare’ as a metric system of land measurement, was only introduced in the State in 1966. The documents of the company were lithographed in 1921.
Then there used to be an English translation for all original documents in Malayalam. The company’s documents do not have a translated version in English. The attestation on the document is in Malayalam, while then all attestations were in English. Also, the Registrar’s signature, mandatory on all pages, was only found on alternate pages.
