Telangana: Document Writers For Property Would Be Held Responsible For Frauds

Document writers would henceforth be held guilty, along with officials and employees of stamps and registration department, for any discrepancies in documents regarding the registration of properties, according to Deccan Chronicle reports.

This move taken by the government should be seen in the light of the recent Miyapur land scam of Telangana. This scam further fostered CID and ACB raids regarding land scams. The investigations revealed the manner in which document writers were intrinsically linked with property fraud. The mastermind behind the land scam was one ‘Goldstone’ Prasad who was responsible for about Rs 587 crore fraud in this case. He used to create two sets of fabricated documents which would be filed under the names of benamis.

One of his benamis would file a case in the court claiming the lands, and the other would file a counter. In few days time, the second party would give Prasad an ‘Assignment Deed’ stating that they did not have rights over the land. He would subsequently process a ‘Compromise Decree’ and eventually come to possess the disputed lands. The original patta owners- the government would remain completely in the dark about these developments.

The Telangana government has brought about a new regulatory mechanism to regulate document writers. These writers have been allegedly resorting to irregularities along with the brokers and officials of the revenue, stamps and registration departments to take over government lands.

The writers need to possess a license issued by the state government that would enable them to be in this profession. They would also need to have minimum educational qualifications of that of Bachelor’s degree. However, for hereditary document writers, the minimum educational qualification would be Intermediate (10+2).

Training classes are to be conducted by the government making them aware of the dos and don’ts of writing fool-proof property documents.

Speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, Mohd Mahmood Ali, Deputy CM said, “There are no prescribed norms for document writers at present due to which unscrupulous elements are entering the profession. They are setting up shops around sub-registrar offices, luring officials and staff in offices with bribes to get illegal registrations done. They are also looting the common people by collecting hefty amounts for registrations. They have created such an atmosphere at sub-registrar offices in nexus with officials and staff that ordinary citizens are forced to approach document writers for registration of properties, or their registrations will be kept pending. The TS government will no longer tolerate this.”

The government is of the opinion that the licensing system would bring professionalism in the field of document writers and would also enable them to regulate the actions of the writers. Licenses of a writer could be cancelled if found to be involved in any fake or wrong documentation during registration of properties.