A local court here has ordered registration of an FIR against 28 persons, including 14 builders and six then sub-registrars and joint sub-registrars, for allegedly causing a revenue loss of more than ₹5 crore to Haryana government by way of evasion of stamp duty.
The accused officials allegedly colluded with the builders to register 53 agricultural properties falling within the municipal area in Manesar tehsil treating them out of it. It caused a loss of 2% of stamp duty to the government exchequer resulting in a loss of whopping ₹5,09,40,088. The fraud took place from 2009 to 2012.
Pronouncing the order in an open court, Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Naveen Kumar, on December 1 directed the registration of the FIR against the 28 named companies/persons under different sections of the IPC, Prevention of Corruption Act and the Information Technology Act.
Compliance report
The court has directed the SHO, Manesar to submit the compliance report on its order on the next date of hearing on December 19.
The orders came on the complaint of RTI activist Ramesh Yadav in a plaint filed under Section 156 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code on July 20 last. The accused also include five registry clerks and three computer operators.
Mr. Yadav told The Hindu that the stamp duty rate for the properties within the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram is 7% but the accused colluded to show these properties in Sihi and Kherki Dhaula as falling out of the municipal limits by tampering with the software and illegally facilitated the registration at 5% rate.
“The loss of revenue for each registry of property ranged from ₹10-20 lakh. In some cases, the residential properties were registered as agricultural land as well,” said Mr. Yadav.
The RTI activist said he lodged a formal complaint at Manesar police station on April 23, 2016, based on the documents of registry number 310 alleging the fraud, but no action was taken. “On April 28 last, I reported the matter to the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Manesar, and he found during his investigation that the builders and the officials had conspired to commit a fraud in registration of properties. The Gurugram Police Commissioner then wrote to DGP Vigilance who sought permission from the Chief Secretary, Haryana for investigation into the matter. The Chief Secretary did not grant the permission, but forwarded it to Additional Chief Secretary who in turn sent it to Deputy Commissioner, Gurugram,” said Mr. Yadav.
He claimed that he also wrote to the Prime Minister's Office in October last.
Mr. Yadav said it was just the tip of an iceberg and the total revenue loss could be over ₹100 crore in Gurugram as more such cases of stamp duty evasion are likely.
