A Mohali court has acquitted all 11 accused in a 38-year-old case concerning alleged irregularities in the acquisition of land for the Ranjit Sagar Dam project and fraudulent payment of excess compensation.

A Mohali court has acquitted all 11 accused in a 38-year-old case concerning alleged irregularities in the acquisition of land for the Ranjit Sagar Dam project and fraudulent payment of excess compensation. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/ Representational image)

Additional sessions judge Rajesh Ahluwalia, in an order dated September 29, granted the accused the benefit of doubt, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish the charges beyond reasonable doubt.

Those acquitted are Chattar Singh, Diwan Chand, Gulshan Singh, Puran Singh, Dhian Singh, Swaran Singh, Chaman Lal, Dev Raj, Kishan Chand, Inderjit Singh and then BDPO Shiv Rattan Kumar.

The case stemmed from an FIR registered by the Vigilance Bureau in 2005 over allegations that the recorded area of shamlat land in Phagota village, acquired for the Ranjit Sagar Dam project, had been inflated, resulting in wrongful compensation and an alleged loss of about ₹4.11 crore to the government.

The prosecution examined 32 witnesses during the trial, including vigilance officials, revenue officials, patwaris, a naib tehsildar and officials associated with the dam and land acquisition process. Evidence was completed on February 27, 2025, with the testimony of revenue patwari Fateh Singh.

The court record states that several accused had died during the prolonged proceedings. Proceedings against eight accused — Balbir Chand, Babu Ram, Anant Ram, Dhian Singh, Karnail Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Joginder Singh and Balbir Singh — were abated.

A key issue was the discrepancy in the area recorded in revenue documents. According to the investigation, the original 1953-54 Urdu Jamabandi showed the disputed shamlat land at 1,938 kanals 11 marlas. During its translation into Punjabi in 1967-68, the figure was recorded as 10,938 kanals 11 marlas and continued in subsequent records.

The prosecution alleged that compensation was consequently paid for excess land. However, the defence argued that the disputed entry had existed for nearly two decades before acquisition proceedings began in 1987.

The court found that the prosecution had not produced sufficient evidence to establish the alleged criminal conspiracy and other charges beyond reasonable doubt, resulting in the acquittal.