Stamp alert: Once bitten, twice shy

LUCKNOW: Alarmed at the fake stamp paper scam that has rocked the Maharashtra government, district magistrate Navneet Sehgal has ordered government offices in the district to verify genuineness of all the stamps they receive.
After this exercise, if any case of fake stamp came to light, the official concerned would be held responsible and appropriate action would be taken against him, the DM warned.
In fact, it’s a case of once bitten twice shy. Last year, the district officials had caught a ‘fake’ stamp. The case was referred to them from the Sales Tax Department. Taking swift action, the officials had lodged an FIR with the Hazratganj police against the ‘culprit’ and the ‘fake’ stamp was sent to the Nasik Printing Press for verification. However, the Nasik press gave it a clean chit as being genuine. The district officials had a big loss of face and the FIR was hastily withdrawn against the man, who was gentleman enough not to sue the officials.
Early last year, six more cases had come to the light when PWD, irrigation and Gomti Pollution Control Board offices were raided. When asked about these cases, the DM informed that FIR had been lodged against the offenders.
ADM (finance) Shailesh Kumar Singh informed TNN that stamp papers were sold through four treasury counters. Four more counters operate for authorised vendors. The public is free to purchase stamps directly from the treasury or from vendors. Normally, stamps of 10 to 15 lakh are sold daily. The figure would shoot up when any big registries took place, he added.
GP Baqar Rizvi, president of the UP Stamp Vendors’ Association, alleged that fake stamp paper racket flourishes in government departments through the unholy nexus of contractors and ‘babus’. In some cases, the ‘babus’ themselves provided fake stamps which were later destroyed when the work was over, he alleged. However, there was sharp decline in such cases following raids and ‘counselling’ by the district officials, he added.
“We constantly visit government offices and check their records,� claimed a senior police official who wished not to be quoted by name. He said pamphlets had been issued to the public and offices to identify genuine stamps, according to instruction written on them.