State panel indicts 152 revenue officials in Pune dist for misusing MLRC provison to alter land records

Pune: An inquiry panel, headed by Nashik divisional commissioner Praveen Gedam, has indicted 152 revenue officials from the district for alleged manipulation of land records over the last five years by misusing Section 155 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (MLRC), 1966, that allows correction of clerical or minor errors in land records."The officials appear to have made substantive changes in land records, such as altering ownership, land classification and area - actions that fall outside their legal scope - by using the MLRC section," a senior revenue officer, who did not wish to be named, told TOI, citing the Gedam committee's report. This had triggered land-related disputes, he added.State revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, responding on Wednesday to a calling attention motion by Shiv Sena (UBT) member Anil Parab, told the Maharashtra Legislative Council he has ordered a statewide audit of all such cases of violation of Section 155 over the last five years. "Divisional commissioners across Maharashtra will conduct a comprehensive audit of orders issued under Section 155 over the past five years and a statewide report will be submitted within two months to assess the scale of such violations," he said."An action taken report (ATR) on the Gedam committee's report will be tabled in the House before the end of the ongoing session of the state legislature," Bawankule assured the legislative council.Incidentally, the Gedam committee examined only 2,383 of the total 38,027 complaints of land record manipulations arising from Pune district on a pilot basis. It found violations such as accepting offline applications, issuing orders without notice, converting occupant class-2 land to class-1, altering land area, and deleting names of rightful stakeholders. A verification of the remaining complaints from Pune district will be conducted in due course of time, senior revenue officials said.Bawankule told the council, "Of the 152 officials indicted by the committee, 15 were involved in very serious irregularities, 82 in serious cases, and 55 in moderate violations. Suspensions, departmental inquiries and criminal proceedings against these officials will follow. Those involved in serious cases will be transferred and action will be taken under the Public Records Act."In Sept last year, the govt appointed the Gedam committee, in the wake of several complaints received since 2020 regarding alleged misuse of the MLRC Section 155, to secure an independent probe into the cases in Pune district. Given the large volume of records — running into tens of thousands of mutation entries — the committee took several months to scrutinise documents before submitting its report earlier this year. The malpractice came to light between July and Aug 2025.The probe flagged a pattern of questionable practices, including handwritten amendment orders and instances where tehsildars allegedly issued orders without proper authority. "Many of these amendments pertained to sensitive land matters such as registration of heirs, sale permissions and alterations in the "other rights" column of land records, a senior revenue officer said on Thursday.Senior revenue officials said that in several cases, officials allegedly altered land records without the consent of landowners, facilitating illegal ownership transfers and questionable conversion of land to non-agricultural status. Parab also demanded criminal cases against those involved, including tehsildars, circle officers and talathis.Parab told the House that over one lakh farmers had been adversely affected and demanded immediate suspension of all officials found guilty, based on an ongoing probe led by senior IAS officer Praveen Gedam. Member Sachin Ahir also called for swift action.Bawankule said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had taken serious note of the issue, terming the misuse of legal provisions under the guise of minor corrections as a grave matter.