In May last year, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau exposed the ‘Guava Orchard Compensation’ scam involving collusion between officials from Horticulture, GMADA, and Revenue departments with private individuals. The VB filed charges against 33, arresting 21, including Horticulture Development Officer Jaspreet Singh Sidhu, who had remained an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to a powerful minister in the previous SAD-BJP government. Despite high connections, Sidhu was denied anticipatory bail, leading to his recent arrest.
The scam, rooted in Bakarpur village, saw officials and associates buying land, planting guava trees to inflate compensation claims. Rs 44 crore has been recovered, with the total scam estimated at Rs 137 crore.
The scam
The roots of the scandal can be traced to Bakarpur village near Mohali. The Flying Squad-1 initiated an investigation based on complaint no. 707/2022 received in 2022. In the 2016-17 timeframe, those close to government and GMADA officers, aware of upcoming land acquisitions, strategically purchased land, planting guava trees in high density to inflate compensation. They manipulated records, claiming trees planted in 2016 when they were actually planted in 2018, extracting crores in illegal compensation.
The masterminds
The masterminds identified in the VB investigation include Bhupinder Singh, Vikas Bhandari, Vishal Bhandari, and Mukesh Jindal.
Establishing personal connections with GMADA officers, they orchestrated a scheme to profit from land acquisition.
They leased the land and showcased guava orchards, planting 2,000 to 2,500 trees per acre, surpassing Punjab Agricultural University’s recommendation of 132 trees per acre. They stipulated in the lease deeds that planting guava trees would entitle them to compensation if the land was acquired. The guava trees were planted during or after the notification process, aiming for inflated government compensation rather than fruit production. In collusion with Bachittar Singh Patwari Bakarpur, they fabricated revenue records in 2016, securing crores of rupees in compensation. An inquiry revealed that Jaspreet Singh Sidhu and Vaishali, Horticulture Development Officers, falsely documented orchards’ existence in areas where khasra girdawaris indicated otherwise.
Bhupinder Singh emerged as the kingpin, orchestrating a compensation windfall for his family and extracting hefty shares from others involved in the scam. Accomplices like Vishal Bhandari and Gourav Kansal disclosed that Bhupinder Singh took a significant cut, as evidenced by financial transactions. The investigation revealed a complex web of corruption, implicating public servants and accomplices in fraudulent land dealings. His wife and daughter bought land jointly with Jasmeen Kaur, a private individual. She is the wife of a bureaucrat who was the ACA (Additional Chief Administrator), GMADA, when the scam happened.
GMADA officials’ involvement
In the VB investigation, it was revealed that GMADA officials were aware of impending land acquisition, strategically acquiring land beforehand to secure higher compensation. Not stopping there, they went on to plant guava trees, falsely aging them by claiming they were planted in 2016 or earlier.
Role of revenue officials
The VB investigation uncovered that revenue officials were responsible for fabricating jamabandis and khasra girdawaries, falsely indicating crop sown and land ownership. In Bakarpur village, khasra girdawaris from 2016-2017 to 2020-2021 were manipulated, showing non-existent guava trees. Evidence of fabrication included discrepancies in printing dates and cuttings to hide them, with Patwari Bachittar Singh implicated in the case.
Horticulture dept officials
The VB investigation found discrepancies in the assessment of fruit-bearing trees’ value. The director of Horticulture Department formed a committee to verify the assessment report, revealing inconsistencies in tree classifications and compensation values. After objections and subsequent re-assessment by Horticulture Development Officer Vaishali, the committee accepted the revised report, highlighting the complexities of valuing guava trees planted densely.
The law
Under the Right to Fair Compensation Act, the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) notification was issued on December 5, 2017. Subsequent notifications under Sections 11 and 19 of the Act were released on February 6, 2019, and August 28, 2020, respectively. The award was granted on February 8, 2021. The Land Acquisition Collector, as per the Act, assesses land and related aspects, seeking expert assistance, such as the horticulture department’s assessment reports for evaluating guava trees planted in the land.
