Punjab-Haryana High Court
Tilak Raj Gupta And Another vs State Of Punjab on 19 December, 2023
Author: Anoop Chitkara
Bench: Anoop Chitkara
Neutral Citation No:=2023:PHHC:163280
1
CRM-M-61586-2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
CRM-M-61586-2023
Reserved on: 13.12.2023
Pronounced on: 19.12.2023
Tilak Raj Gupta and another ...Petitioners
Versus
State of Punjab ...Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA
Present: Mr. Bipan Ghai, Sr. Advocate with
Mr. Nikhil Ghai, Advocate and
Mr. Rishabh Singla, Advocate
for the petitioners.
Mr. Luvinder Sofat, DAG, Punjab.
****
ANOOP CHITKARA, J.
FIR No. Dated Police Station Sections 1 10.02.2017 Vigilance Bureau, 409, 420, 467, 471, 120-B IPC Economic Offences (Section 201 IPC added later Wing, District on) and 13(1)(D) r/w 13(2) of Ludhiana PC Act, 1988
1. Apprehending arrest in the above captioned FIR, the petitioners, who claimed to be beneficiaries in connivance with main accused Anand Kumar Sharma, SDM, had come up before this Court by filing the present petition on 01.12.2023.
2. Vide order dated 07.12.2023, this Court had granted interim bail to the petitioners, which is continuing till date.
3. Facts of the case are being taken from the affidavit dated 11.12.2023, filed by PPS, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Vigilance Bureau, EOW Ludhiana and relevant paragraph No.1 to 6 reads follows:-
"1.That it is pertinent to mention here that the FIR No. 01 dated 10.02.2017, registered Under Section 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120-B IPC and Section 13 (1)(d), 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, at Police Station Economic Offences Wing, Punjab, Vigilance Bureau Ludhiana was initially registered after Vigilance enquiry no. 09/2016 Jalandhar. Earlier 13 accused were nominated in this FIR and the role played by other 15 suspects was to be investigated. Thereafter, during the course of investigation a SIT was constituted to investigate the said 1 1 of 6 ::: Downloaded on - 20-12-2023 03:35:41 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2023:PHHC:163280 2 CRM-M-61586-2023 matter by the then Chief Director Vigilance Bureau Punjab vide its office order dated 25.05.2018. The said SIT investigated the matter and filed cancellation report before the Hon'ble Special Court of Dr. Ajit Attri, Ludhiana on 13.06.2019.
2. That the Hon'ble Special Court of Dr. Ajit Attri, Ludhiana had directed to further investigate the said FIR vide its order dated 05.04.2022. That as per the direction of this Hon'ble court the case was further investigated especially in the light of following 13 points.
a) Whether any permission was sought from the Municipal Committee, Hoshiarpur/ administration prior to publication of notification no.3-A for the development of the colonies or not and what is the exact time of the development of colony if any?
b) Whether the proper procedure for the change in the nature of the land has been followed before issuance of the variation certificates and when the change in the nature of land was applied in each such case and when the necessary procedure was followed in each case of change of the nature of the land? Whether owner of the land moved any written application before the SDM with regard to change in nature of the land or not and whether these application were entered in the diary by assigning the numbers? Apart from this, whether the nature of the land could be changed after publication of the notification no.3-A, 3-D, 3G or not and if it was possible, then what procedure was to be adopted for this purpose?
In how many cases the nature of the land is changed after the notification 3A, 3-D and 3G?
c) Whether the land in question has been sold or purchased after publication of notification no 3-A and subsequent notifications in pursuance to some conspiracy by the accused? The number of the sale deeds executed and registered immediately before and after the issuance of the notification/s, the market rate of the area prior to those sale deeds and the market rate of the area after the issuance of the notifications?
d) In how many cases the applications for the change in the nature of the land were received, in how many cases such application were allowed and in how many cases the applications were not allowed? The entire process followed for the change of the nature of the land?
e) To what extent the amount of compensation was increased on change of nature of the land on sale/purchase of land in question after the publication of notification no.3-A?
f) On what basis, the amount of compensation was calculated?
g) To how many persons the compensation was disbursed and at what rate, who purchased land after the publication of notification 3-A?
h) What were the guidelines of the M.O.R.T.H regarding the aspect of sale/purchase of the land during the process of acquisition?
i) What were the responsibilities of the CALA regarding the issue of sale/purchase of the land and whether CALA carried out his responsibilities as outlined in the M.O.R.T.H guidelines?
22 of 6 ::: Downloaded on - 20-12-2023 03:35:42 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2023:PHHC:163280 3 CRM-M-61586-2023
j) Whether the proper procedure was followed by CALA in determination of I the compensation to be paid to the land owners?
k) Whether the change of the nature of land in question influenced the rates of compensation, if yes, then how much loss was caused by this to the State?
l) Whether the CALA determined the rates of compensation bases on nature of the land and market value as on the date of notification issued under section 3-A of the N.H. Act 1956 or not?
m) Whether the criteria followed for deciding the market value of the lands was based on the parameters provided by the law?
3. That, in order to comply with the directions of the Hon'ble court under order dated 05.04.2022, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted. Thereafter, during the course of further investigation by the said SIT, new facts have been discovered regarding the gravity of offence committed by the accused in the said matter. After perusal of the case documents by the SIT, it has come to notice that Draft 3A schedule was prepared by the survey company Louis Berger group and same was sent to office of XEN PWD Hoshiarpur (Project Director). Thereafter the same draft 3A Schedule was further sent to the office of co-accused Anand Sagar Sharma who was the then SDM-cum-CALA Hoshiarpur by XEN PWD Hoshiarpur vide office letter no. 903 dated 19-01-2015 for verification of khasras. It is pertinent to mention here that the accused Anand sagar sharma the then SDM-cum-CALA Hoshiarpur intentionally and with malafide kept the said Draft 3A schedule pending in his office for about four months and fraudulently changed the khasra numbers of five villages namely Khwaspur/Piplanwala, Dagana Kalan, Dagana Khurd, Hardokhanpur and Bassi jana in the 3A schedule. By doing this he illegally created a new road alignment falling in the above mentioned five villages. That, in order to prove this illegal road alignment, the present SIT compared both the draft 3A schedule prepared by Louis burger company and 3A schedule prepared by the accused and then SDM cum CALA Anand sagar sharma along with mentioned khasra numbers in both and map showing the road alignments through concerned Revenue officials. (Copy of the comparison report and map attached herewith as annexure-1).
4. That after the creation of new road alignment in the above mentioned five villages the accused Anand Sagar Sharma the then SDM-cum-CALA Hoshiarpur involved his near and close persons namely Harpinder Singh etc. That accused Harpinder Singh started purchasing the agricultural land in villages Khawaspur and Hardokhanpur in is own name and in the name of his family members/relatives/close associates Thereafter, in connivance and conspiracy with accused Anand sagar sharma, the accused Harpinder Singh and other accused mentioned in this FIR received compensation on colony/residential rates, which is totally unfair and illegal in the eyes of law. It is worth while to mention here that the present SIT while during the course of investigation obtained reports from the concerned departments to verify and investigate the facts as following.
(i) The SIT obtained report dated 04/10/2023 from the office of District town planner Hoshiarpur and as per this report/record no CLU/Lay out/Site plan/NOC were issued by the then office. In fact there is no 3 3 of 6 ::: Downloaded on - 20-12-2023 03:35:42 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2023:PHHC:163280 4 CRM-M-61586-2023 communication between any of the accused who filed application under 3C and the Office of District town planner with regard to same. It is crystal clear from the report of DTP dated 04/10/2023 that there is no basic facility like street lights/drainage system/water supply etc. available even as on date as per the record. (Copy of the report dated 04/10/2023 is attached as annexure-2).
(ii) That during the course of investigation the report from PSPCL, was also obtained. While in the said report dated 10/10/2023 it is specifically mentioned that none of the accused who filed application under 3C has applied for issuance/installation of the electricity meter nor the same has been issued by the department as per the office record. (The copy of said PSPCL report dated 10/10/2023 is attached as annexure-3)
(iii) That the current/latest report from the revenue department was also obtained by the SIT during the course of investigation and as per the said report dated 21/09/2023 there is no colony/residential area in the said land described by the accused while filing application under 3C. Even the said area is surrounded by agricultural land with crops as well (The copy of revenuereport dated 21/09/2023 is attached as annexure-4).
5. That as per the law laid down in the National Highway Act 1956 under section 3D(2);-
"On the publication of the declaration under sub-section (1), the land shall vest absolutely in the Central Government free from all encumbrances."
But the accused and the then SDM cum CALA Anand sagar sharma, in connivance and conspiracy with other accused and by abusing process of law kept transferring the ownership titles in the changed khasra numbers in 3A schedule by him even after notification under 3D/3G, even when the names of actual owners of the land were already published in the notification under 3D/3G, in order to give compensation to other accused and conspirators in this matter. It is also pertinent to mention here that during the course of investigation the actual owners of the land came forward and got recorded their statements that the accused have cheated and defrauded them and their compensation amount has been grabbed by them, in connivance and conspiracy with each other
6. Detail of sequentially published notifications regarding the acquisition of land under National Highway 70 (Now NH-3) (Jalandhar-Chintpurani) as following:-
Sr. no. Notifications Date of publication in
newspaper
1 3A 14.07.2015
2 3D 10.11.2015 & 11.11.2015
3 3G 01.12.2015
4. It would be appropriate to extract role of the petitioner(s) from paras 7 & 8 of the reply, which reads follows:-
"7. Specific role of the accused/petitioner Tilak Raj Gupta:
That the accused/petitioner Tilak Raj Gupta was a colonizer who had sold various plots in the village Hardokhanpur. That after the proceedings of 4 4 of 6 ::: Downloaded on - 20-12-2023 03:35:42 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2023:PHHC:163280 5 CRM-M-61586-2023 3D/3G (notification)the accused/petitioner, in connivance and conspiracy with other accused Harpinder Singh and the then SDM cum CALA accused Anand Sagar Sharma, re-purchased the agricultural land with malafide intention from its actual ownerwith sale deeds no: 6109dated 18/01/2016, 6110 dated 18/01/2016 and 6549 dated 02/02/2016 and grabbed the compensation amount of Rs. 6,69,22,200 at residential rate.
That a well known person of accused/petitioner namely Sanjeev kumar appeared on behalf of the accused/petitioner at the time of above said sale deed. It is also relevant to mention that the CLU of the said purchased land was also not obtained by the accused/petitioner. (The copies of Sale deed attached as annexure-5)Accordingly, From the facts mentioned here it is crystal clear that the accused/petitioner with mala fide intention and mensrea cheated and defrauded actual owners who were not aware of the land acquisition proceedings going on and grabbed the Government's money as compensation amount as mentioned above.
8. Specific role of accused/petitioner Arun Gupta:
Accused/petitioner Arun Gupta was a colonizer who had sold various plots in the village Hardokhanpur. That after the proceedings of 3D/3G (notification) the accused/petitioner, in connivance and conspiracy with other accused Harpinder Singh and the then SDM cum CALA accused Anand Sagar Sharma, re-purchased the agricultural land with malafide intention from its actual ownership sale deed no: 374 dated 12/04/2016 whereas his well known person namely Sanjeev kumar appeared on behalf of the accused/petitioner at the time of above said sale deed. That by this way the accused/petitioner grabbed the compensation amount of Rs. 3,76,16,400 at residential rate in his bank account bearing number 023601526324 with ICICI bank on 02/05/2016. It is also relevant to mention that the CLU of the said purchased land was also not obtained by the accused/applicant. (The copy of Sale deed is attached as annexure-6) Accordingly, From the facts mentioned here it is crystal clear that the accused/petitioner with mala fide intention and mensrea cheated and defrauded actual owner who were not aware of the land acquisition proceedings going on and grabbed the Government's money as compensation amount as mentioned above.
5. I have heard counsel for the parties and gone through the pleadings and its analysis lead to the following outcome.
6. Counsel for the State submits that they arraigned eight persons, as accused initially, later on investigator choose to file cancellation report but trial Court reject that report. In further investigation, investigator find out enough evidence against the accused, as such, the petitioners are not entitled to bail on parity with main accused.
7. Prosecution's case against the petitioners are that they are colonisers and in connivance with the then SDM-cum-CALA, Anand Kumar Sharma, purchased agricultural land and grabbed compensation of Rs.6,69,22,200/- at residential rates. Similarly other accused-Arun Gupta, being coloniser, grabbed an amount of Rs. 3,76,16,400/-. It cannot 5 5 of 6 ::: Downloaded on - 20-12-2023 03:35:42 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2023:PHHC:163280 6 CRM-M-61586-2023 be disputed that the person with whose intervention, these persons had got compensation, was Anand Kumar Sharma, SDM-cum-CALA, initially at the time of registration of FIR, was granted bail. Therefore, there is no reason to deny bail to the present petitioners.
8. In the nut shell, modus operandi of Anand Sagar Sharma was that he was aware of the fact of land acquisition and because of the same, he asked his near and dear/property dealer to purchase land in an unauthorised colony at cheaper rates, which was an agricultural land and lateron, he converted the land from the agricultural to residential and consequently they received massive amount of compensation through his henchman Ganesh Tuli etc. It appears to be an open and shut case of money laundering and it is for the government to consider taking steps for violation of offences punishable under Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002. Even previously the investigators were happy to file a closure report and it was at the intervention of the trial Court that further investigation was conducted and now prosecution has found evidence in the same case in which they proceeded to close the case. This Court is not giving any directions to the State government to refer or not to refer this matter for violation of Prevention of Money Laundering Act but it is for the State to take conscious decision at their own level. It is further clarified that observation made hereinabove are only for the purpose for decision of bail petition and will not refer in any other during the trial or any other further investigation of any other case, if initiated.
Given above, interim order dated 07.12.2023 is made absolute and petition is allowed in aforesaid terms. All pending applications, if any, stand disposed.
(ANOOP CHITKARA)
JUDGE
19.12.2023
anju rani
Whether speaking/reasoned: Yes
Whether reportable: No.
Neutral Citation No:=2023:PHHC:163280
6
6 of 6
::: Downloaded on - 20-12-2023 03:35:42 :::