District Collector and Magistrate Collector, Shimla, Dinesh Malhotra has declared 350 bighas in the Rampuri-Keonthal area on the peripheries of the Jubbarhatti airport as benami land and ordered that it should be vested in the state government.
As many as Rs 8.72 crore transaction was detected in the benami land deal executed in 2008, when the BJP was in power, revealed sources. The District Magistrate, Shimla, sought replies from all those involved in the land deals.
A payment worth Rs 8.72 crore was made to land owners by Alchemist, a multi-business reality company. The company’s chairman, KD Singh, is Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP from West Bengal, inquiry revealed.
The government had conducted the inquiry in June 2013 and detected the benami land deal. The District Collector had submitted the inquiry report to the government last year, which gave its nod to initiate proceedings under Section, 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972.
Fifteen persons acted as benami buyers and purchased land from the land owners as per the sale deed. Besides this, in 10 different cases, benami buyers executed “will-based land sale deeds”. In four such cases, they executed the “land deals through will” and measured 3-72-69 hectare land, revealed the inquiry.
Though the government is going slow on the benmai land proceedings, it was the High Court, which directed the government to fast-track all benami land deal cases. The benami land deals were the part of the Congress chargesheet against the BJP regime submitted to President of India Pranab Mukherjee when the Congress was in the Opposition in the state.
It was found different benami buyers made payment to the different agricultural land owners through cheques issued by Alchemist. The court of District Magistrate found that they violated Sections 118 and evaded stamp duty worth lakhs of rupees.
Benami buyers not only evaded payment of 2 per cent stamp duty, but also undervalued the land. They paid stamp duty at the rate of Rs 45,000 per bigha whereas the value of land was about Rs 4.5 lakh per bigha in Shimla tehsil, the inquiry found.
The benami buyers turned out to be non-agriculturalists which violated Section118. As per this Act, no non-agriculturalist Himachali can buy agricultural land in the state without the government’s permission, said Dinesh Malhotra.
All efforts to contact the TMC MP have failed.
As many as Rs 8.72 crore transaction was detected in the benami land deal executed in 2008, when the BJP was in power, revealed sources. The District Magistrate, Shimla, sought replies from all those involved in the land deals.
A payment worth Rs 8.72 crore was made to land owners by Alchemist, a multi-business reality company. The company’s chairman, KD Singh, is Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP from West Bengal, inquiry revealed.
The government had conducted the inquiry in June 2013 and detected the benami land deal. The District Collector had submitted the inquiry report to the government last year, which gave its nod to initiate proceedings under Section, 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972.
Fifteen persons acted as benami buyers and purchased land from the land owners as per the sale deed. Besides this, in 10 different cases, benami buyers executed “will-based land sale deeds”. In four such cases, they executed the “land deals through will” and measured 3-72-69 hectare land, revealed the inquiry.
Though the government is going slow on the benmai land proceedings, it was the High Court, which directed the government to fast-track all benami land deal cases. The benami land deals were the part of the Congress chargesheet against the BJP regime submitted to President of India Pranab Mukherjee when the Congress was in the Opposition in the state.
It was found different benami buyers made payment to the different agricultural land owners through cheques issued by Alchemist. The court of District Magistrate found that they violated Sections 118 and evaded stamp duty worth lakhs of rupees.
Benami buyers not only evaded payment of 2 per cent stamp duty, but also undervalued the land. They paid stamp duty at the rate of Rs 45,000 per bigha whereas the value of land was about Rs 4.5 lakh per bigha in Shimla tehsil, the inquiry found.
The benami buyers turned out to be non-agriculturalists which violated Section118. As per this Act, no non-agriculturalist Himachali can buy agricultural land in the state without the government’s permission, said Dinesh Malhotra.
All efforts to contact the TMC MP have failed.
