HYDERABAD: The Telangana
high court
has convicted a property buyer to two months jail and two officers of Union Bank of India with Rs 20,000 fine each, for misleading a couple that bought a 300 square yards plot at Boduppal Peerjadiguda of Uppal mandal (now in Medipally mandal) in Medchal district.
The couple—S Anuradha and Naga Raju—bought it from their vendors on Sept 4, 2017. Their vendors suppressed the fact that they had already mortgaged the
land
with the Union Bank of India (UBI) and obtained a loan on it.
The couple filed a police complaint with Medipalli police on the fraud. They also requested the bank to allow them to clear the dues lying in the name of the mortgaged plot so that they can take delivery of the plot and papers. The bank said that the vendors of this plot had to clear a loan of Rs 59 lakh. It asked the couple to pay that money. But in the meantime, it went ahead with the auction on Feb 28, 2018, and sold it to the highest bidder, Suttam Devender Reddy, for Rs 80 lakh. Even before he paid all the amount, it gave him the sale confirmation certificate in contravention of norms. He paid the full amount only in January 2019, a year after the auction was held.
The bank also allowed the petitioner couple to clear the outstanding dues. They paid Rs 40 lakh to the loan account and were ready with the balance amount too. But on account of the conclusion of auction, the amount did not reach the loan account which was closed by then. Bank officials, by law, should not wait for a year for successful bidder to pay, they have to resell it after forfeiting the amount that was already paid.
The bench of Justice M S Ramachandra Rao and Justice K Lakshman gave a finding that two UBI officers, CVN Bhaskar Rao and Rajesh Kumar Singh, intentionally helped Devender Reddy to ensure that he gets the plot.