NC MP Ruhullah chargesheeted for tampering with revenue records

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Jammu & Kashmir has filed a chargesheet against 22 persons, including National Conference MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi for alleged withdrawal of fraudulent payments by way of making insertions, and tampering with the revenue records in Budgam district.

The ACB filed the chargesheet before the Court of Special Judge, Anti-Corruption, Srinagar, in a case under Section 5(1)(d) r/w 5(2) of the J&K PC Act Svt 2006 and Sections 120-B, 467, 468 and 471 of the RPC (now BNS) against 22 persons, including two officials of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority, four retired public servants and 16 beneficiaries.

An official spokesperson said the case was registered on the basis of outcome of a joint surprise check conducted by the ACB into the allegation of abuse of official position by way of making insertions and tampering with the revenue records, which led to the subsequent withdrawal of fraudulent payments against the excess state land and shown allotted to tenants at Rakh-e-Aerth, Budgam.

“During joint surprise check, it came out that officials of the revenue and agriculture departments conspired with certain beneficiaries, Dal Lake dwellers, to fraudulently inflate land records to claim excess compensation. These officials abused their positions to show excessive land possession in favour of beneficiaries, leading to undue payments and losses to the state exchequer,” said an official spokesperson of the ACB said.

“Officials of Rakhs and Farms in connivance with officials of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority and Revenue Department through tampering/insertions in revenue records and managed to inflate the quantum of land in possession of tenants,” said the spokesperson.

Through alleged fraudulent mutations, the land in possession was shown as 60 kanal instead of six kanal, 40 kanals instead of four kanal and 7 kana and 10 marla instead of 2 kanal.

Those named in the chargesheet include Abdul Majid Akhtar, Zaffar Ahmad Hakak, Manzoor Ahmad Rather, Ali Mohd Wani, Hafiz-ullah Shah, Mohd Hussain Mir, Aga Syed Mussa, Aga Syed Aqueel, Aga Syed Mohsin, Aga Syed Ali, Aga Syed Hassan, Aga Syed Ahmad, Aga Syed Ruhullah, Mohd Sadiq Wani, Mohd Talib Wani, Ali Mohd Wani, Ghulam Hussain Wani, Abdul Rahim Wani, Hyder Ali Wani, Nazir Ahmad Wani, Ghulam Rasool Wani and Ahamadullah Dar.

Srinagar MP Ruhullah denied any kind of misappropriation and said the matter was nearly two decades old and he was only a legal heir to his grandfather’s land. “April 1 joke has been cracked on April 13. The narrative being built is that a huge scam has occurred and I am at the centre of it. I have nothing to do with this so-called scam,” he said.

Ruhullah said the land in question was inherited from his grandfather, who owned around 90 kanal in Durbal Bemina, an area where land was acquired by the government as part of a rehabilitation initiative for Dal Lake dwellers. “At that time, compensation was provided not just based on revenue records but also on the actual possession of land. My family received compensation for around 40 to 50 kanal despite more than 90 kanlal being under our possession,” claimed the MP.

J & K