LAYYAH, Nov 11: Around 2,000 kanals of land belonging to the Thal Development Authority (TDA) was illegally allotted to an evacuee property’s claimant in excess of the original claim by a former district officer for revenue (DOR), who happens to be the current executive district officer for revenue (EDOR) of this district, Dawn has learnt.
According to sources, EDOR Ghulam Akbar Khichi allotted TDA land measuring 6,033 kanals worth millions of rupees against the original claim of 4,170 kanals during his stint as DOR of this district some two years ago and that too without any lawful authority because his powers to allot such land had been clipped by the government a year before than such allotment.
The sources said the land measuring 4,170 kanal had been allotted to one Akbar Ali, son of Suleman Rajput, of Srishta Thal Jandi locality in Layyah tehsil, against evacuee property claim. Later, Akbar transferred his allotment of land to one Mumtaz Akbar Khan, son of Ghulam Akbar Balouch, through a civil court’s decree on Dec 1, 1980.
Subsequently, on the basis of the said decree, Mumtaz filed an application before the DOR, Mr Khichi, who made adjustment of TDA land measuring 4,874 kanals, instead of original claim of 4,170 kanals, in different localities all over the district on May 11, 2005.
The sources said that subsequently the figure 4,874 was again forged and replaced with figure 6,033 through a letter of compliance (Ijraa) No 876 dated May 11, 2005 issued by the DOR’s office, which was sent to revenue officers throughout the district and supplementary mutations were entered in the name of Mumtaz for 6,033 kanals.
According to the Evacuee Property and Displaced Persons Act, the allottees are entitled only to get evacuee property land owned by the central government in relevant revenue estates allotted to them by deputy settlement and additional settlement commissioners notified by the chief settlement commissioner under the said law. Revenue officers notified by TDA administrator under the TDA Act are not entrusted with powers to adjust the land owned by TDA against the claims preferred by evacuee property’s claimants, and therefore the TDA land could not be allotted and adjusted to such claims.
As the government had de-notified the DOR as deputy settlement commissioner through gazette notification No 1330 dated July 7, 2004, the DOR had no powers to allot the TDA land against evacuee property’s claims, therefore he illegally allotted the TDA land against the claims pertaining to evacuee property.
Ghulam Muhammad Awan, a local lawyer, told Dawn that revenue officers of this district had adjusted TDA lands against the evacuee property’s claims without any lawful authority. He said that through this malpractice, millions of acres of TDA land had been distributed among the cronies and powerful land mafias.
Another lawyer, Khalid Mahmood Bazmi, said the illegal practice was going on since long and the higher revenue authorities had ignored this misuse of power by their subordinates.
When contacted, EDOR Ghulam Akbhar Khichi said that when TDA was established in 1950s, it had acquired all the lands owned by both central and provincial governments in the district.
He said that according to a Board of Revenue decision, if adjustment of central government’s land is involved in adjustment of evacuee property’s claims and the same is not available, then to satisfy the claim of evacuee property’s claimant the land acquired even by the TDA could also be allotted to that claimant, which, according to him, he did.