Widespread irregularities have been found in sub-registrar offices across Andhra Pradesh during raids conducted by the Registration and Stamps department over the past few days. So far, employees in at least 17 sub-registrar offices across the state were found to have indulged in corrupt activities and swindled considerable amounts of money, by issuing fake challans. Inspector General (IG) of Stamps and Registrations department MV Seshagiri Babu told the media that a deviation of nearly Rs 5 crore was found between challans shown and deposits made, resulting in revenue loss to the state exchequer. So far, an amount of Rs 1 crore has been recovered to the state treasury following the raids, Seshagiri Babu added.
The raids were reportedly prompted by an incident in Kadapa a few days ago, when a police complaint was lodged over irregularities at the sub-registrar office, The New Indian Express reported. The IG then directed district registrars to inspect sub-registrar officers and tally challans issued with the revenues. According to The Hindu, the accused employees of the sub-registrar offices had been forging the amounts mentioned on challans paid during property registrations, and were swindling money by not depositing the fees, or depositing a smaller amount with the government. Document writers and stamp vendors were also reportedly involved in the malpractice, which was being done by taking advantage of loopholes in the software used by the department.
According to IG Seshagiri Babu, 10 out of the 17 offices were found to have considerable deviations in amounts deposited. In Krishna district alone, fraud worth more than Rs 3.5 crore was unearthed in various sub-registrar offices, according to reports. In Kadapa district, the irregularities found so far amounted to Rs 1.08 crore, The Hindu reported, while in Guntur, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Stamps and Registrations G Srinivasa Rao said that fraud worth nearly Rs 8 lakh was found in the Mangalagiri sub-registrar office.
So far, six employees have been placed under suspension, while criminal cases have been registered against document writers and others involved in the scam. Officials have been verifying records related to the past few months, according to reports, and they have been asked to continue inspections in all 295 sub-registrar offices in the state and submit detailed reports on the irregularities found. While the investigation is ongoing, IG Seshagiri Babu said that changes are being made to the software used by the department.
“A new version of the software was rolled out about a week ago to all 295 offices in the state. Now, without manual intervention of sub-registrar, the software will generate a challan automatically and verify the payment amount,” he said. The government is also reportedly contemplating introducing a license system for document writers, requiring them to clear a qualifying exam conducted by the department. Speaking about the validity of the registrations completed so far on the basis of these fake challans, Seshagiri Babu said that the department is taking legal advice on whether they can be cancelled.