Action Soon Against 150 Officials for Illegal Land Record Changes in Pune Division
Pune, 20th March 2026: Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has announced strict action against officials found misusing Section 155 of the revenue law to manipulate land records and allegedly grab land belonging to common citizens.
Following a review of orders issued by tehsildars and sub-divisional officers in the Pune division, the government found serious irregularities. As many as 15 officials were identified in highly serious cases, 82 in serious cases, and 55 in moderately serious cases, the minister said.
Section 155, which is meant for correcting clerical errors, was allegedly misused to alter land ownership, change land area and modify official records. Complaints regarding such misuse had been received by the government, prompting a detailed inquiry.
A committee led by the Nashik Divisional Commissioner examined 2,383 cases out of 38,027 in Pune district. The probe reportedly revealed several violations, including acceptance of offline applications instead of the mandatory online process, passing orders without notifying concerned parties, converting Class-2 land into Class-1, increasing land area and illegally removing the names of rightful stakeholders.
The minister stated that primary action will be initiated within the next seven days in highly serious cases. A detailed action taken report will be presented before the legislative assembly before the end of the ongoing session.
As per the committee’s recommendations, criminal cases and strict departmental inquiries will be initiated in 13 highly serious cases. In 247 serious cases, departmental inquiries will be conducted and the concerned officials will be transferred to non-executive posts outside the Pune division.
Officials involved in highly serious cases and those linked to more than 30 irregularities will be suspended immediately. In cases where files are missing, criminal action will be taken under the Public Records Act, 2005, Bawankule added.
