Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Special Police Establishment (SPE), Lokayukta registered a case against three IAS officers on Friday. SPE has registered a case against Gwalior commissioner Deepak Singh, excise commissioner OP Shrivastava and joint election officer Basant Kurre.
The case has been registered against these three officers for giving permission for selling land belonging to tribal people when they were posted as additional district magistrates (ADMs) in Jabalpur.
There were complaints against these officers. They were posted in Jabalpur as ADMs from 2007 to 2012. They gave permission for selling the land belonging to the tribal people at Kundam in Jabalpur. According to the MP Land Revenue Code, only the collector can give permission for selling land of the tribal people.
The then collectors had given this right to the ADMs. ADM Sher Singh Meena inquired into the complaints and handed over a report to Jabalpur SP of Lokayukta SPE. The FIRs were registered on the basis of the complaints.
Although an official of Lokayukta confirmed that FIR had been registered, these three officers said they had no information about it.
Collector has right to give permission under 165 (6)
The collectors have been given the right to give permission for selling the lands belonging to the tribal people under section 165 (6) of the MP Land Revenue Code.
There are many cases about sale of lands in tribal areas. In many districts, the collectors give this right to the ADMs. The ADMs give permission for sale of land belonging to tribal people on the basis of the right given by the collectors. Many officers had to face problems for this.
According to an order recently issued by the revenue department, now even a collector does not have the right to give permission for selling tribal land to non-tribals.