Scam unearthed in Mahendergarh district

CHANDIGARH: Mahendergarh deputy commissioner (DC) Sanjiv Verma has revealed a multi-crore scam involving evasion of stamp duty and registration fee by seven mining firms while registering lease deeds.

In a letter to additional chief secretary, revenue and disaster management, Keshni Anand Arora, dated July 1, he pointed out that in several cases, registration of lease deeds was either executed through simple affidavist without paying stamp duty or tampering had been made by adding hand-written lease agreement. He said criminal and disciplinary action must be taken against these defaulters.

The matter came to light when a firm, a lease holder in Mahendergarh, requested for registration of lease deed on a plain paper without paying stamp duty. The firm also pointed out that lease deeds were being registered on plain papers without paying stamp duty in Bhiwani, Panchkula, Yamunanagar and Sonepat districts also.

Verma got examined the matter through a stamp auditor, who revealed that there had been evasion of stamp duty and registration fee of worth `7.56 crore by seven mining firms.

Verma said that in view of the information provided by the firm about the procedure in other districts, the state might be suffering a loss to the tune of `100 crore to the state exchequer and “immediate necessary action is required to be taken at the level of the government.”

He has recommended strict disciplinary and criminal action against Narnaul tehsildar Ishwar Singh, former tehsildars Om Prakash, Rattan Singh Jangra and Azad Singh Bhoria.

Meanwhile, the Mahendergarh administration has initiated the process of recovery in cases where evasion of stamp duty had been made.

“The lease deeds were being executed on plain papers. The mining firms are supposed to pay 1.5% stamp duty. We have recommended action against tehsildars. The report on the matter has been sent to additional chief secretary,” said district revenue officer, Mahendergarh, PD Sharma.

He added, “An order of the high court was interpreted wrongly and registration of lease deeds was allowed on plain papers, which is wrong.”

IN LETTER TO ADDL CHIEF SECRETARY, REVENUE, DC REPORTS EVASION OF STAMP DUTY AND REGISTRATION FEE OF `7.56 CRORE BY SEVEN FIRMS