Arappor Iyakkam, a non-governmental organisation, which filed a complaint with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on July 14 alleging unauthorised sale of lands belonging to a defunct company PACL which had cheated investors of ₹46,000 crore, has demanded that the Registration department take action against sub-registrars involved in the scam and cancel all the sale deeds signed by the company.
The NGO alleged that PACL owned 5,300 acres of land throughout the State and had collected funds under the collective investment scheme. When the company failed to repay the investors, they filed a case in the Supreme Court which appointed the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee to investigate the scam and ensure repayment to investors in 2016. The Lodha committee identified the lands belonging to PACL located in several districts of the State. The Lodha committee had issued circulars to the Registration department not to register any transaction of the “not for sale” land belonging to the PACL.
However, the employees of the PACL, in collusion with a section of officials of the Registration department, registered the sale of these “not for sale” lands. In its complaint to the DVAC and the CBI, the NGO had attached documentary proof of these unauthorised transactions carried out between 2018 and 2020.
In response to the allegations, B. Jothi Nirmala, Secretary, Commercial Taxes and Registration Department, had issued a statement confirming the unauthorised sale of lands and the disciplinary action taken against the officials.
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In a press release, the Arappor Iyakkam thanked the Secretary who brought out the true picture of the 714 fraudulent transactions involving 6,892 acres of land (as against 5,300 acres of land alleged by it).
Jayaram Venkatesan, Convenor of the Iyakkam, while appreciating the work of the Registration department, has demanded that all the Encumbrance Certificates (ECs) pertaining to PACL land be immediately marked as “not for sale” besides cancelling all the 714 unauthorised transactions.
The Arappor Iyakkam has demanded that the Registration department should take departmental action against the Additional Inspector General (Guideline) K.V. Srinivasan (against whom DVAC inquiry is on) and several sub-registrars of Theni, Tenkasi, Tiruchi, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, and Tirunelveli districts for facilitating the illegal transactions.
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