Fraudulent sale of property uncovered in Solan district
In a case of fraudulent property sale, two individuals were arrested for allegedly using fake partnership documents to transfer a property in violation of Himachal Pradesh’s land ownership laws. The case, centered in the Solan district’s Kumarhatti area, involved a complex scheme in which a property was registered in the name of a non-agricultural firm using forged documents.
The fraud came to light when Priya, a resident of Khil Jashli village in Kumarhatti, filed a complaint alleging that her property—comprising 11 biswas of land and an eight-story house—was sold fraudulently by fellow villager Patram and Indrapal, a resident of West Delhi. Priya claimed the two men created fake documents to falsely represent the property’s ownership, transferring it to a non-agricultural firm against state regulations. Subsequently, the Dharampur police registered charges of cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and use of counterfeit seals against the accused.
Investigations revealed that Patram, a Himachali farmer, purchased the land in 2017 and initially constructed a two-story house. In violation of Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, he leased the property to non-agriculturist Indrapal for 99 years, at a price of Rs 28 lakh. Over time, Indrapal expanded the structure to eight stories and entered into a sale agreement to sell a second-floor flat to Priya for Rs 70 lakh, while declaring himself the property’s legal owner. However, the sale deed was never officially registered, and Priya alleges she was deceived into making payments under false pretenses.
KEY FINDINGS
Forged documents: Fake partnership documents and affidavits were used to transfer the property.
Violating state regulations: The transfer bypassed Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act.
Fake 0wnership: Indrapal falsely claimed ownership and sold the property to Ananda Realtech.
Arrests: Neeraj Mittal and Pankaj Garg, legitimate partners of Ananda Realtech, were arrested.
In 2022, Priya reported the matter to the police. Although Indrapal initially obtained anticipatory bail, he later cancelled the lease deed, allowing Patram to regain control of both the land and the building without further payment. Following this, Patram sold the property for Rs 1.40 crore to Ananda Realtech, a firm allegedly represented by Lucky Chand of Baijnath’s Tikri village and Riya Sharma of Hamirpur.
The transfer was executed in November, documented in Solan’s Sub-Registrar’s office and recorded by the Revenue Department. However, subsequent investigations revealed discrepancies: while the property was transferred in the name of Lucky Chand and Riya Sharma, official records indicated that the real partners of Ananda Realtech are Neeraj Mittal and Pankaj Garg, both Panchkula residents. Police inquiries at the CGST office verified that these two remain the firm’s legitimate partners, as per their GST filings.
Further investigation uncovered that Ananda Realtech was registered on the GST portal in May 2021, with its partnership deed signed in January 2021 by Mittal and Garg. During the property sale registration, an amended agreement and affidavits purportedly showed Lucky Chand and Riya Sharma as new partners, while Mittal and Garg were falsely shown to have resigned from the firm. This change, however, was not officially recorded, suggesting that the amendment was fabricated solely to facilitate the sale.
The police suspect that these forged amendments and false affidavits were created to bypass Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, which restricts non-agricultural Himachalis from owning agricultural land in the state. By presenting fraudulent documents to the Sub-Registrar in Solan, the accused allegedly conspired to enable an illegal transfer.
According to official records, Lucky Chand and Riya Sharma are not listed as partners of Ananda Realtech. “This indicates the fraudulent nature of the amended agreement, which was used to facilitate the property sale under false pretenses,” stated Solan SP Gaurav Singh.
While the accused, Riya Sharma, Lucky Chand, Inderpal and Patram, secured anticipatory bail, a Solan court rejected the anticipatory bail plea for Neeraj Mittal and Pankaj Garg, who were subsequently arrested and produced in court. Police continue to investigate the case.
