A fraudulent land registration case from Tonk district in Rajasthan has come under the Rajasthan High Court's scanner, with the bench raising tough questions about administrative inaction and the alleged insider collusion that enabled the fraud to take place in the first place.
Single Bench of Justice Ravi Chirania Hears the Case
The matter came before a single bench presided over by Justice Ravi Chirania. The fraud case is registered at Kotwali police station in Tonk. The accused had filed anticipatory bail petitions, and it was during the hearing on these petitions that the full extent of administrative lapses was laid bare before the court. The bench observed that the manner in which the fraud was carried out cast serious doubts on the functioning of both the administration and the police.
Tina Dabi Appears via Video Conferencing on June 19
On June 19, District Collector Tina Dabi appeared before the court through video conferencing. The bench asked pointed questions: what concrete steps had the administration taken in this fake registry case registered at Kotwali police station? Had there been any departmental inquiry or legal action against the government officials and employees whose alleged connivance made the fraud possible? The court made clear it was not looking for a procedural response but a substantive account of action actually taken.
Collector Discloses: Registration and Mutation Completed in a Single Day
When questioned by the bench, Collector Tina Dabi acknowledged before the court that the roles of the local sarpanch, patwari and sub-registrar in this fraud were suspicious. The most alarming detail she disclosed was that the land's registration and its mutation, two processes that ordinarily require separate timelines spanning days or weeks, were both completed within a single day. The High Court identified this as a clear indicator of large-scale, pre-planned corruption and deliberate collusion within the administrative machinery.
Two Reports, Two Contradictory Narratives
Another troubling development emerged during the hearing. The administrative inquiry report filed by the ADM (Bisalpur) and the investigation report prepared by the local police presented starkly different accounts of the same incident. The High Court reacted with sharp displeasure, demanding to know how two government departments examining the same case could arrive at such entirely different conclusions. The bench made clear it expected a credible explanation for the discrepancy.
Evidence of Land Mafia Links Placed Before Court
Senior advocate Pravendra Kuntal, appearing on behalf of complainant Ramdhan Chaudhary, placed before the bench documents and evidence allegedly establishing links between land mafia operators and government officials in this case. The High Court has reserved its order on the anticipatory bail petitions filed by the accused, with the ruling set to be delivered on June 22. The court's firm intervention has sent ripples through Tonk's revenue and administrative departments, where considerable unease has set in following the hearing.
