Property owners forced to run from pillar to post to get records entered again
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 22 Feb: More than six months ago, it had surfaced that more than 13,000 files related to property records are missing from the Dehradun Municipal Corporation Offices (Nagar Nigam offices). This had come to light during a hearing in the State Information Commission on a petition filed by Doon resident Tarun Gupta more than 6 months ago. The case was being heard by Information Commissioner Yogesh Bhatt. Bhatt had directed the Nagar Nigam authorities to prepare a complete list of property and tax records which have gone missing in the past. On the direction of the State Information Commission, a list was prepared and it was revealed that at least 13,743 files are missing. Most of these files went missing between 1989 (when Dehradun was a Municipal Council) and 2021. As a result of such a large number of files missing, the property owners are being forced to run from pillar to post to get their records entered once again in the Nagar Nigam records.
In the absence of official records, many property owners are not able to sell their properties. When they approach the Nagar Nigam authorities to get their records fixed and re-entered property in the official records, they are asked to submit notified original registries, sale deeds, taxation papers and mutation documents. Even then, it takes months for every single property owner to get the records entered in official files.
Speaking to Garhwal Post, many of the property owners shared their experiences in this regard. The biggest problem is faced by property owners of older colonies where the land had been originally given to them on 99 year lease by the then Mahant of Dehradun (Guru Ram Rai Durbar). Later, these leases were converted by the Durbar and the government to freehold properties but the registries don’t exist. Sale deeds exist in cases only where the properties had been resold to third parties in this period.
The biggest surprise should be the could not care less attitude of Nagar Nigam Authorities. Now, more than 6 months have passed since the State Information Commission passed the order to take due action against the guilty officials. However, not even a notice has been issued to the officials concerned in this regard, let alone any action against them. No one has been held accountable in a matter which ought to have been taken very seriously not only by the Nagar Nigam authorities but also the Urban Development Ministry and the government as a whole.
It is worth noting that the Information Commission Yogesh Bhatt had suspected the possibility of a large-scale conspiracy behind the missing documents, which can’t be ruled out. A large number of property records at the Office of the Sub Registrar of Dehradun were also recently found to have been manipulated. Frauds related to property are constantly on rise in the state. Hence, an intent to commit frauds in the property documents behind the missing files can’t be ruled out.
The RTI application had been filed in the State Information Commission by Tarun Gupta informing the Commission that the records of his property were also missing from the Nagar Nigam. Uttarakhand and particularly districts like Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar have witnessed large scale of property related frauds in recent years.
