Pune: Fifteen revenue officials, including three deputy collectors, have been sent on compulsory leave in the district following a govt probe into illegal manipulation of land records. The investigation flagged 13 “very serious” instances where ownership was illegally changed through the misuse of Section 155 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (MLRC).Confirming the move, Pune collector Jitendra Dudi stated, “Orders have been issued, and the concerned officials have been sent on compulsory leave as per state directions. We have also ordered that the compromised records be corrected within two months.”The crackdown follows a March 25 directive from the state revenue department to divisional commissioners in Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Nagpur, calling for immediate disciplinary action.The investigation was conducted by a committee led by Nashik divisional commissioner Pravin Gedam. After examining 38,027 complaints and scrutinising 2,337 cases in detail, the committee found that 424 orders were passed using improper administrative procedures.The violations were classified into three tiers. Category A comprises 13 extremely serious cases involving deliberate illegal changes to ownership rights. Officials in this category face suspension and potential criminal proceedings.Category B: Serious procedural violations, such as passing orders without following due process. Involved officials will be transferred to non-executive roles outside the Pune division.Category C: Moderate irregularities or minor procedural lapses, requiring administrative corrective action.Section 155 of the MLRC is intended only for minor clerical corrections. However, the probe revealed that officials used it to make substantive changes to land classification, total area, and occupant names—actions that fall entirely outside their legal scope.The committee also flagged several fraudulent practices, including accepting offline applications instead of digital ones.Issuing orders without notifying relevant stakeholders, illegally converting “occupant class-2” (restricted) land to “class-1” (freehold), deleting names of rightful legal heirs. In total, 152 revenue officials have been indicted based on the findings. Speaking in the Legislative Council, revenue minister Bawankule assured the house of strict action and announced a statewide audit.“Divisional commissioners across Maharashtra will now conduct a comprehensive audit of all orders issued under Section 155 over the past five years,” the minister said. He added that all identified illegal orders will be reviewed suo motu, and original land records will be restored within six months to protect landholders’ rights.The state govt also plans to introduce amendments to the MLRC during the upcoming monsoon session to plug the legal loopholes that allowed these violations to occur.
