Admin reclaims Nazul land after illegal sale

Kanpur: District magistrate Kanpur Nagar Jitendra Pratap Singh on Friday took strict action over the sale of a valuable Nazul property in Civil Lines to a private builder and issued a govt re-entry order for plot no. 14/59A, Civil Lines, directing it to be re-registered as unallocated govt land.According to the current circle rate, the land was valued at approximately Rs 24.77 crore.
The matter came to light after a joint investigation by sub-divisional magistrate (Sadar), assistant in-charge officer (Nazul) and tehsildar (Sadar). The investigation found that the nazul allottees had neither paid lease rent nor renewed their leases for years. Despite this, the land was sold to a third party without the collector's permission.According to records, the plot, located in Plot No. 3 of Nazul Block-14, was allotted in the year 1982 in the names of KC Beri, Tarang Beri, Neeraj Beri and Vikas Beri. As per the provisions of the Nazul Manual, leases for building purposes were given for a limited period and their renewal was mandatory, but the lessees did not take any action in this direction.During the investigation, it also came to light that the heirs of Sita Berry, concealing important facts related to the Nazul lease, executed a sale deed in favour of SA Builders Private Limited in the year 2012. The sale deed showed the land as freehold, while no evidence of this was found in govt records.The district magistrate clarified in his order that selling Nazul land without depositing lease rent, without renewing the lease and without taking permission from the collector was a clear violation of the rules. In this way, the valuable govt property located in the heart of the city was illegally transferred and destroyed.On the basis of the provisions of the Nazul Manual and the permission received from the govt, the district magistrate ordered govt re-entry into the plot in public interest.According to the order, the land will now be registered again in the govt account, and responsibility for its maintenance and control was jointly handed over to the assistant in-charge officer (Nazul) and tehsildar (Sadar).Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Women's day wishes, messages and quotes !