Srinagar, Nov 24: What could be a tip of the iceberg, the Revenue Department has declared an alive man from south Kashmir’s Kulgam district as ‘dead’ and mutated his land in a fraudulent manner. The fraud, in broad daylight has severely troubled the man, who is awaiting justice for the past 2-years.
In 2008, Baroo Poswal son of Roshan Poswal of Tangamargh teshil of Kulgam, visited the deputy commissioner’s office at Kulgam to get ‘state-subject’ for his son, Irfan. But he was shocked to see the officials showing him the papers wherein he had been declared as “dead” and his land mutated.
“They had even mentioned on papers that I have no son,” said Baroo, who approached Greater Kashmir office with the documents this afternoon. “I turned panicky and saw the papers. I was dumbstruck to see my land mutated in favour of two of my relatives in an illegal manner. All this had been done in connivance with the Revenue Department officials,” he alleged.
Baroo said he immediately approached the Court of Additional Deputy Commissioner (Collector), Kulgam with an appeal that the matter may be inquired forthwith. In his order, issued on 30-5-2009, the then ADC writes: “The perusal of the records, especially the mutation no 1137 which is under challenge, reveals that it is the appellant himself who has been shown as dead and it is his very property which has been mutated in favour of the respondents.”
It adds: “It is a quite strange case when the appellant is surviving and breathing and has appeared before me in person, how could his property be mutated in favour of the respondents. In fact it is a case of deceit and fraud where the respondents and beneficiaries under mutation 1137 have hatched a conspiracy to grab the property of the appellant brazenly. And it is for this reason that they have shown appellant dead and have tried to grab his property.”
The order, a copy of which is with GK, adds: “The counsel for the respondents when asked had no replies to explain the fraud and deceit. The attesting officer has been misled by the beneficiaries under the mutation and by the witnesses present who seem to be the party to the fraud. The concerned Patwari has been totally negligent in his duty and without verifying the facts, he has drafted the mutation. There can be no more serious case of negligence than this where Patwari concerned should be dealt with under the Service Conduct Rules for which the case shall be taken up with the Financial Commissioner Revenue.”
The ADC set aside the mutation and ordered restoration of property to the appellant. He also directed that a case be registered against the beneficiaries under the mutation and the witnesses thereof.
While Baroo got some justice here, he had to face an ordeal while dealing with the issue. Police and administration has allegedly delayed investigation in the case, forcing Baroo to take the next step. It is still not clear whether the accused persons have been punished or not.
“I finally decided to sell portion of the land and entered into an agreement with another Poswal family. The agreement said that the party shall give me Rs 1, 30,000 against 3 kanals and 3 Marlas of land. But so far I have received just Rs 60,000. I would never have sold the land if the Revenue Department had played the fraud,” Baroo claimed. “Today my property would fetch up millions of rupees. But I turned panicky because of the official indifference and decided to sell my land.”
He wants the Deputy Commissioner Kulgam to look into the entire issue. “I want justice. I want the deputy commissioner Kulgam to hear my grievance so that I get whatever I deserve. I expect justice from the DC office,” Baroo said.
According to sources, such complaints in Revenue Department are piling up. “There are so many such cases in different districts, but there is nobody to look into them. It seems to be a mafia. The government must take such cases seriously and do justice to the victims,” they said.

DC ASSURES ACTION
When contacted the deputy commissioner Kulgam said the Baroo must approach him. “I will look into the issue and take appropriate action,” he told Greater Kashmir.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 24 Nov 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:00:00 IST