Haryana Chief Secretary forms panel to investigate Panchkula land transfer case

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, April 2

Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner Revenue TVSN Prasad has formed a committee of two IAS officers to investigate the entire episode of Ambala Divisional Commissioner Renu Phulia passing an order revoking a 21-year-old stay, thus allowing the transfer of 14 acres in Panchkula, and her husband Satyavir Singh Phulia and son Neelanchal becoming purchasers of the land.

Div Commissioner revoked 21-yr-old stay

Ambala Divisional Commissioner Renu Phulia passed an order revoking a 21-year-old stay, thus allowing the transfer of 14 acres in Panchkula. Her husband Satyavir Singh Phulia, serving as Information Commissioner in State Information Commission, and son became purchasers of the land.

Satyavir Singh Phulia is serving as Information Commissioner in State Information Commission, Haryana.

The chairperson of the inquiry committee will be IAS officer Amneet P Kumar while IAS officer TL Satyaprakash will be the member. Deputy District Attorney (DDA) Sukh Ram, who looks into surplus land issues, and retired HCS officer RK Garg, an expert in revenue matters, will be assisting the committee.

The Chief Secretary had earlier issued orders on March 29 for restraining all officers in Panchkula tehsil from registering any transfer deeds related to the land of Bhagwant Singh and his legal heirs. He had acted after the Panchkula DC had written to him for “guidance” following Renu Phulia’s order, dated September 13, 2023. The DC had approached the Chief Secretary after he received a request from a naib-tehsildar in the matter.

The Tribune had broken the story on March 31. The land in question was part of the land inherited by the legal heirs of Bhagwant Singh, who was the owner of around 1,396 acres in Beed Babupur, Beed Firozadi, Bhareli, Sangrana, Barwala, Jaloloi and Fatehpur Viran villages. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the Collector Agrarian, Panchkula, to re-determine the surplus area as per law as it vests with the government on February 24, 2023.

However, Renu Phulia, in her order, had observed that Prithvi Raj Chabbra, his sister Shashi Gulati and Sunil Kumar Gulati, both ex-IAS officers, were absolute property owners in the revenue record. They had bought the land from the legal heirs of Bhagwant Singh. She revoked a stay imposed by Collector Agrarian, dated September 18, 2003, on the transfer of land and removed any embargo on any document they presented for registration.

On March 28, two sale deeds were executed. One was between Chabbra and Satyavir Singh Phulia, his son Neelanchal, Usha Rani, resident of Kurukshetra, and Shubham Juneja, resident of Manimajra Complex (Chandigarh) for the sale of 47 kanal and 19 marlas for Rs 2.57 crore. It included payments through cheques worth Rs 24 lakh, bearing dates before the order of the Ambala Divisional Commissioner.