Over two decades ago, 13 people allegedly cheated the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS) of obtaining land at subsidized rates for a cooperative society that was declared defunct.
How they work? Falsifying and manipulating community records and adding fake members – such as their families and relatives – to deceive authorities.
On October 31, 25 years after the case was registered, a special judge at Ross Avenue Court sentenced the members of Safdarjung CGHS Limited to five years’ imprisonment on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, abetment of dishonest delivery of property, and sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act among others.
“In a civilized society, corruption is a cancer-like disease and if not detected in time, it is sure to harm the polity of the country leading to disastrous consequences. It is called plague, which is not only contagious, but if not controlled, it spreads like fire in the forest,” Special Judge Prashant Sharma of the Ross Avenue court said in his order dated October 31.
He added: “Corruption is incompatible with democracy…and unless it is nipped in the bud as soon as possible, it is likely to cause unrest, shaking the social, economic and political order of a healthy, wealthy, efficient and vibrant society.”
While 11 defendants were sentenced to five years in prison, two were sentenced to one and two years in prison, respectively. Nine of the accused were members of the association and three were RCS officials.
How did you start?
In the 1970s and 1980s, various cooperative societies were registered in Delhi but no land was allotted by the DDA. As a result, these communities became dead.
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The Delhi Cooperative Societies Rules include provisions for revival of defunct societies. These provisions have allegedly been exploited by several construction companies, in collusion with Delhi NCT officials, for undue financial gain, causing financial loss to the government.
In an order dated August 2, 2005, the Delhi High Court ordered the formation of a special investigation team to inspect 135 such societies.
Current issue
The present case is one of the cases in the alleged Rs 4,000-crore CGHS scam in Delhi, which involved fraudulent revival of defunct communities to illegally acquire DDA-backed land. In this case the community was revived and a land of 5000 square meters was allotted in Dhirpur, Delhi.
According to various court documents seen by The Indian Express, the accused made their family members members of Safdarjung CGHS Limited.
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It was also alleged that the society’s records were forged and manipulated to revive the society to obtain subsidized lands.
According to the guilty verdict issued on October 13, there were empty spaces in the association’s records, elections were not held regularly, and the association was not audited on a regular basis. “None of the accused provided any explanation whatsoever regarding blank spaces and tampering with community records during the trial,” Special Judge Sharma said in his conviction.
Many of the 53 prosecution witnesses questioned by the CBI deposed before the court saying that they were not allotted flats and the money they deposited to become members was never returned to them. Several witnesses also denied before the court that they had given their signatures on community records.
“…Every member of the community concerned, by mistake or fraud, wanted to get housing in Delhi at a very minimal cost. This greed has shut the mouths of the community members,” Justice Sharma said in the order. “So each member of the community, who was charged in this case, acted in a manner, as if no wrongdoing had occurred while managing the affairs of the community, and as if all rules/regulations had been followed.”
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Court documents also reveal multiple discrepancies in the association’s documents such as discrepancies regarding members’ registration dates.
The court order also noted that the officials “simply believed that the community records were true and correct without noticing the obvious tampering, falsification and tampering of said records” because they “wanted to help other accused persons revive the community in question, illegally, with ulterior motives.”
The judge said: “The officials did not see fraud and tampering with community records, which can be seen with the naked eye.”
The RCS officials had allegedly prepared a positive report for the purpose of reviving the community under which a “list of 90 fictitious members was approved and sent to the DDA” and the land was allotted in their favor after the “revival” of the community.
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“Getting housing in urban cities like Delhi is everyone’s dream… There is no problem with that. The problem arises when one resorts to illegal means to make this dream a reality. In the process, lies are spread, ethics are compromised, documents are forged/forged, professional duties are ignored and every person involved in the conspiracy with the aim of getting residential accommodation is careless about ethics and moral principles,” the judge said in his October 13 ruling.
(tags for translation) Delhi DDA Land Scam
