Jubilee Post News & Views
Chief Reporter
Smelling the whiff of the Jewar International Airport coming up on Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), land sharks of the area had started their operations in the area almost eight years back. This is the story of a known company which has bought almost 73 acres of land in Tappal area.
The story is both interesting and baffling. Showing scant respect for the law, land given to poor and Dalit farmers on lease by the state government, has been purchased about half a dozen companies of this firm. It is pertinent to point out here that land leases to farmers by the government can neither be sold or purchased. It is to be noted that under the Section 157(A) of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, it is illegal to purchase this land from these farmers. Only ancestral land of farmers is allowed to be sold.
Another interesting fact that all the companies are registered on the same address – 626, Sixth Floor, Tower-A, DLF Tower, Jasola, New Delhi. Also, the signatory to the purchase deals on government records is one P. Narayan Swamy, son of B. Padmanabhan. More interestingly, P. Narayan Swamy, an employee of the parent company, is also a director in some of these firms.
The company in question is Jakson Limited, which is a major genset manufacturer and also in some other areas of business. Sameer Gupta is the Chairman and Managing Director of Jackson Limited.
The companies involved here are, Zest Infratech Private Limited, Eco Towers Private Limited, Zest Dwellings Private Limited, Konark Heights Private Limited, Konark Residency Private Limited, Zest Green Projects Private Limited.
In addition to this, some land has also been purchased on the names of some individuals who are alleged to be associates of Jakson Limited.
Of all leased land purchased by these companies from Dalit farmers of the area, only one belonging to one Hukum Singh, son of Bhojraj, resident of Jatav Village could be transferred to Zest Infrastructure Private Limited, 626, Sixth Floor, Tower-A, DLF Tower, Jasola, New Delhi in the name of P. Narayanswamy.
Thereafter, objections were raised as to how could a land leased to Dalit farmers could be purchased by these firms and land bought from other Dalit farmers namely Santo of Jatav Village, Karan of Jatav Village, Om Prakash of Jatav Village, Renu Gautam, Omwati Devi, Sarjeet, Mahendra, Mewa Ram and Sanjay, all residents of Tappal Village, could not be transferred to these companies on government records.
An RTI filed some time back, received a reply that no government permission was sought for the sale of these leased lands and no permission was granted for the same. An enquiry in these dubious and illegal deals was set up by the then Additional Collector of Aligarh Sanjay Chauhan in December 2014. But no conclusive report came out as the matter was hushed up as the influential corporate house used its clout to bury the issue.
These shady deals by these companies are a clear-cut violation of the Land Sealing Act and Section 157(A) of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act.
Three emails, phone calls, a sms and a Whatsapp message are repeated reminders that were sent to Mr. Sameer Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of Jakson for his version to the story. But all efforts of Jubilee Post went futile as Mr. Gupta choose to ignore all of these.
The Yogi Adityanath government has shown its strong will against zero tolerance towards corruption and those involved in such cases have been dealt with a heavy hand so far. BJP’s leader Ashwini Shahi told Jubilee Post that a thorough enquiry would soon be ordered in this case and none of the guilty, however influential and affluent, would go scot free. You should remember that this is not Samajwadi Govt where they obelized his own friends.
In June 2018, the state police had arrested PC Gupta, a retired IAS officer and former CEO of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA). Gupta was accused of a land scam of worth Rs.126 crore while holding office. He along with his relatives had allegedly bought land from farmers which the YEIDA later acquired at double the market price.
(This is the first part of the story – this is to be continued – stay connected to Jubilee Post for further more interesting investigations on the land sharks of western Uttar Pradesh)
