Land grab in Gurgaon
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 16 — Certain influential persons, in collusion with some senior officers having political patronage, are alleged to have grabbed more than 100 acres of prime land in the heart of Gurgaon.

The land is question, costing more than Rs 80 crore, is shamlat deh land of Haiderpur Viran which is a part of Wazirabad panchayat and is located in the immeditate vicinity of posh localities developed by the Ansals and the DLF group.

Knowledgeable sources reveal that the land classified as shamlat deh had been lying uncultivated but was naturally being used as drain, grazing grounds etc for common purposes by the residents of the area. Some years ago land sharks started purchasing parts of this land as "shares" from several co-sharers of the original proprietory body of the village — an act which by itself is shocking since it is impossible to identify any shares in the shamlat land. Therefore, cases were filed in the court of the District Revenue Officer, Gurgaon, for declaration to the effect that the land should apportioned among the so-called co-sharers by denying the legitimate right of the gram panchayat. A similar case was also filed in the case of the neighbouring shamlat land of Ghata village before the same Revenue Officer.

This officer vide similar orders dated April 30, 1996, and August 13, 1996, had thrown out the claim of Ghata and Wazirabad villages, respectively, to the shamlat land. This led to a lot of hue and cry. Some regular appeals were filed in the court of the Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon.

Some of the residents of Ghata village had taken the matter before the Punjab and Haryana High Court by preferring a writ petition. The High Court had summoned the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Devinder Singh, in person and had directed him to decide before the next date of hearing. The Deputy Commissioner decided the matter in favour of the gram panchayat.

The timely action by the High Court had saved about 329 acres of land from being grabbed by the land mafia.

Finding their design coming to a nought, the entire efforts of the land operators were then directed towards managing the 436 bighas of the still costlier land of the Wazirabad panchayat. In a swift aboutturn and in an absolutely contradictory manner, the same Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon held that the land did not vest in the panchayat vide his order dated March 2, 1998, paving the way for the land sharks to move in and take over the land in question.