Punjab VIPs laughing all the way to the bank

The second decision, notified only on March 13 – and still not made public – was to henceforth compensate landowners at the market rate plus 30 per cent extra, irrespective of land quality. This changed two existing rules; up to now compensation was paid according to the registry price of land (usually a fraction of the actual price), and secondly, fertile and barren lands are compensated at different rates.

On the face of it, two unrelated decisions taken by the same government. In real terms, a virtual windfall for many. Investigations by The Indian Express have uncovered 32 VIPs who together – with family and friends – own more than 3,000 acres of ‘inferior’ land (land which cannot be cultivated) on the proposed site. When, a few months down the line, the government compensates them for acquiring the land to build the city, these people stand to gain lakhs, if not crores of rupees.

In most cases, ownership is on the basis of power-of-attorney, which need not be recorded in government documents. When the government acquires the land, these papers are enough for compensation.

Most of those who bought land at the site bought bad land – barren land, riverine tracts, wasted village common land, jungles, hillocks… in short, not land that can be used for agricultural purposes. The land was bought from villagers only too happy to sell, at prices ranging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 3 lakhs per acre.

The first spurt of purchasing at the Anandgarh site was seen five years ago, when the Beant Singh-led Congress ministry decided to build `New Chandigarh’ there. Several senior Congressmen bought land at that time, including current PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh and former ministers Pratap Singh Bajwa and Harnek Singh Gharuan.

Capt Singh, the erstwhile Maharaja of Patiala, along with the erstwhile rajas of Nalagarh, the Mankotia princelings of Himachal, Raja Shivdev Inder Singh and his wife, late Maharaja Yadvindra Singh’s wife, Yadunandana Kumari (wife of Raja Surinder Singh of Nalagarh) own the bulk of the 642 acres of jungle lands of Jayanti Majri. Bajwa controls more than 200 acres of land in villages Bharaonjjian, Soonk and Salamatpur while Harnek Singh’s wife owns 80 acres in village Majrian.

However, the project – which, incidentally, was planned at the same site as the Anandgarh one and was then vehemently opposed by Badal – was shelved after Beant Singh’s assassination in 1995.

The next buying spree was in 1999, after Badal announced the Chandigarh site as one of three possible locations – the other two being Anandpur Sahib and Noorpur Bedi – for the new capital. The list of those who have bought land, or whose family or friends or acquaintances have done so, is a virtual who’s who of the State’s politico-bureaucratic elite:

* Excise and Taxation Minister Adesh Pratap Singh, who is also Badal’s son-in-law, his wife and other relatives and friends have, among them, picked up 125 acres of hilly common lands of Parchh village in 1995, paying less than Rs 14,000 per acre.

* The wife of former PUDA chief engineer Manmohanjit Singh owns more than 40 acres of barren land picked up for less than Rs 2.5 lakh in Majri and Mullanpur.

* The wife of senior IAS officer Inderjit Singh Bindra bought 60 acres of barren land in Parol and Nagal in October 1999.

* Financial Commissioner, Cooperation, K S Janjua, owns 50 acres of riverine land through a power-of-attorney in Malakpur.

* J S Kesar, Principal Secretary (Rural Development & Panchayats) has captured more than 10 acres of panchayat land in Teera.

* Nayagaon is home to farms of several VIPs who own or control land here. IG (intelligence) M P S Aulakh owns/controls three farms in the area along the hills. Others include Financial Commissioner and senior IAS officer R N Gupta, former chief secretary A S Pooni, former IAS officer Gurbinder Kaur Sekhon, former Akali MLA Talib Singh Sandhu, Canada immigration consultant Col (retd) Baljit S Sandhu, who controls the biggest holding – about 400 acres.

* Badal’s first cousin Binni Mann bought 30 acres of riverine tract from the villagers of Parchh.

The Jayanti Majri riverine tract forming the common lands of Mullanpur Garib Dass village had been virtually discarded by farmers. The scrubland is home to wild boars at night and partridges, peacocks and jackals by day. It has long been under dispute in the High Court. Yet in June 1999, say villagers, a powerful former MP and his brother-in-law put up a front of property dealers to buy nearly 450 acres. Villagers have been paid just Rs 30,000-40,000 per acre in a deal in which they signed blank stamp papers which left out the buyer’s name.

What the govt says

Vinni Mahajan, Chief Administrator, Anandgarh Development Authority:

"The Government has no information, official or semi-official, which may indicate what is the extent of any purchases made by VIPs. There has been no bar on purchasing land in this area in the expectation that its value willrise. The decision to award compensation at uniform rates to all kinds of lands is to ensure that no undue discretion is placed in the hands of land acquisition officials and (to avoid) any harassment caused to poor farmers of the area."

Interestingly, the volume of land bought at the chosen site was several times more than that bought at the other two sites.