Youth Congress claims 500-600 fake land registries in Nagpur

A major allegation over land and property registration in Nagpur city has stirred the administration. The Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress has alleged that around 500 to 600 documents were registered as fake or duplicate at Sub-Registrar Office No. 5 and other offices in the city. The organisation says these registrations used fake or duplicate RL, NA, town planning maps and sanction maps.

Led by Youth Congress general secretary Akshay Hete, office-bearers submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Inspector General of Registration and Deputy Controller of Stamps, Nagpur division, demanding an immediate, impartial departmental inquiry into the entire matter. The organisation wants the documents on which the registrations were based matched against genuine government records. It says that if a discrepancy is found between government records and the documents presented at the time of registration, the full truth will come out.

According to the Youth Congress, the matter is not limited to two or four documents, and each of the roughly 500 to 600 suspect registrations should be investigated separately. The organisation demanded that for every document it be established where it was prepared, on what basis it was approved, and which officials or staff were involved in the registration process. It said a surface check of documents would not be enough; the underlying government records, permissions and maps must also be examined.

To ensure evidence is not lost, the Youth Congress has demanded that CCTV footage, computer records, digital entries, scanned copies of documents and the complete electronic record linked to registration at the concerned offices be preserved. The organisation says this digital record can show which officer or staff member was present at the time of registration and which system the entry was made from.

The memorandum also calls for a probe into the role of Sub-Registrar Krishna Raut and other concerned officials and staff, though these allegations are yet to be independently verified. The Youth Congress has also submitted to officials evidence of some documents allegedly bearing forged seals, and has demanded a technical examination of these.

The organisation has said clearly that if the inquiry proves fake documents, forged seals or violation of rules, criminal cases should be registered immediately against those responsible. It said the investigation should not be limited to paperwork but should trace the entire chain, from those who prepared the documents to those who used them for registration and the officials who accepted them.

The Youth Congress has warned that if an impartial departmental inquiry into the matter does not begin immediately and action is not taken against the guilty, the Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress will launch a sharp agitation. The organisation said land and property documents are directly linked to ordinary people's rights and the security of their property, making a transparent inquiry essential in such cases.

The delegation of office-bearers included Sushant Lokhande, Raza Ali, Sameer Timande, Ashutosh Kamble, Shivam Chaudhary, Sahil Mohod and Anup Bhandari, among others. Attention now turns to what steps the registration department takes following the complaint and what facts emerge from the investigation into the 500 to 600 documents.