Maval and Mulshi Record Highest Number of Fraudulent Land Deals

Maval and Mulshi talukas are known for some fine scenic spots. But marring this tag, they are getting the dubious distinction of being the hotbed of fraudulent land deals.

Fraudulent land transactions have been coming to light at an alarming rate and rising for the past couple of years. Of the 900-odd land-related cases that came up for hearing before the Maval sub-divisional officer (SDO) over the past year, around 50 per cent were fraudulent land deals.

Maval SDO Sanjay Patil stated that almost all cases of fraudulent deals that come before him are of “double sale deeds”.

“Sale deeds are signed once a deal is finalized. Of late, many cases are coming to fore of the same land being sold twice (fraudulently) and in some cases thrice,” he said.

Sale deeds are inked once a deal between buyer and the seller is finalized. These are then maintained at offices of the sub-registrar. It is expected that once the sale deeds are finalized, the revenue department should be informed to make necessary changes in land records. In the majority of cases, the necessary mutation of land records is not carried out because of lack of proper coordination between offices of the sub-registrar and the revenue department.

“The most crucial document of the sale deed is Form A, supposed to be used by revenue officials to change land titles. However, in many cases, Form A is not submitted to the office of the local talathi and thus mutation entries are not made in the 7/12 land records. Unscrupulous elements make use of this to sell the land again and register another sale deed. When the case comes up for hearing before me, there is little I can do,” said Patil.

Another major avenue for land fraud, which is becoming common these days, is sale of plots demarcated by private town planners. “Only layouts prepared by the town planning department of the government of Maharashtra are accepted. These days, many plots prepared by private town planners are available and these are hotbeds of fraudulent activities,” he said.

Patil stated that in particular, in layouts prepared by private town planners, the promoter often sells land marked as approach roads, taking advantage of lack of strict government scrutiny. Senior officials say these lands are often purchased by anti-social elements who use muscle power to block the approach to other plots. “When such cases come up for hearing, we can’t do anything as private layouts have no standing in the eyes of the law,” Patil said.

In the absence of an alternative, the investor is often compelled to sell his land at a loss, which is again sold to a gullible buyer.

Patil and other senior revenue officers strongly advise people to make a complete scrutiny of the legal status of the property before investing.

“Other than the office of the talathi, a proper verification should be done at the office of the sub-registrar to rule out any past transactions,” he said. He also stated that people should refrain from buying plots in areas demarcated by private town planners