Ambala Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Verma has cancelled the mutation of 810 acres currently valued at more than Rs 2,500 crore, five kanals and seven marlas of land in the names of private owners in seven villages of Panchkula district. Several VVIPs are believed to be among the owners.The issue concerns the surplus land of Sardar Bhagwant Singh in the villages of Barwala, Jalouli, Bir Babupur, Bir Firozari, Bharali, Fatehpur Viraan and Sangrana in Panchkula district.Bhagwant Singh was a large landowner, owning 1,394 acres, one kanal and three marlas in these seven villages. He died in 1960. He had seven legal heirs, and as per the Supreme Court order, they could succeed to his estate.For the last 60-70 years, proceedings to determine permissible and surplus land have been ongoing. The surplus land must vest in the state government.During the proceedings in the court of Commissioner, Ambala Division, the Tehsildar submitted a report that out of the total holding of Sardar Bhagwant Singh, land measuring 583 acres, three kanals and 16 marlas had already been mutated in the name of the state government; the rest of the land measuring 810 acres, five kanals and seven marlas was mutated in the name of private landowners at present.Verma, vide his order dated May 26, said, “The entire land vests in the state government in terms of Section 12(3) of the Haryana Ceiling on Land Holding Act, 1972; therefore, mutations of land that had been got sanctioned in the name of private owners measuring 810 acres, 05 kanals and 07 Marla are hereby ordered to be cancelled. Thus, the entire land be mutated in the name of the state government.”He added, “Further, Collector Agrarian, Panchkula, is directed to decide the entire matter afresh after giving opportunity of hearing to all concerned parties positively within a period of two months.”The Collector, Agrarian, is the SDM, Panchkula.A series of ordersSardar Bhagwant Singh’s 1,394-acre land is believed to be worth Rs 4,200 crore.Vide an order dated March 31, 2020, the Collector Agrarian, Panchkula, decided the surplus case and allotted 30 “standard” acres of land to each legal heir of Bhagwant Singh, and in this order, it was clearly mentioned that no relief could be granted to the persons who purchased the land after 1958.However, the then Commissioner, Ambala Division, while setting aside the order, remanded the case back to the Collector Agrarian, Panchkula, vide an order dated June 13, 2003.The order of the Commissioner, Ambala Division, was challenged before the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Chandigarh.The Financial Commissioner, Revenue, also remanded the case back to the Collector Agrarian, Panchkula, vide an order dated September 5, 2014, with directions to pass an order in view of the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order dated December 11, 1992.As per the 1992 order of the High Court, the status of Bhagwant Singh’s landholding was to be assessed with respect to April 15, 1953, the reference date for the enforcement of the Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act, 1953. The Act dealt with surplus land.Now, the Financial Commissioner’s order was challenged in the Punjab and Haryana High Court by way of a Civil Writ Petition (CWP) in 2017. The bench of Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj on February 24, 2003, ruled that “Collector Agrarian shall take expeditious steps for adjudication of the proceedings in a time-bound manner and preferably within a period of one year.”Asha Singh, one of the legal heirs of Bhagwant Singh, moved to the Financial Commissioner with an application dated March 14, 2023, for correction of the revenue record in the name of Bhagwant Singh and his legal heirs before compliance with the High Court order.After it was forwarded to DC, a letter dated April 6, 2023, was issued to the Collector Agrarian for carrying out the necessary corrections in the revenue record in the name of the living legal heirs of Sardar Bhagwant Singh.Following it, the Collector Agrarian issued a letter dated April 11, 2023, to the Tehsildar, Panchkula, directing him to carry out the necessary corrections in the revenue record.Verma noted that, however, in pursuance of letters dated November 11, 2023, and January 4, 2024, issued by DC Panchkula, the Collector Agrarian, vide his order dated January 4, 2024, withdrew his order dated April 11, 2023, and also directed that any changes in the revenue record, if any, be reversed.Now, Asha Singh challenged the Collector Agrarian order before the Ambala Divisional Commissioner, and a stay was granted on March 6, 2024.Counsels Deepanshu Bansal and Ajay Kaushik, representing some purchasers of the land in question, submitted that the entries in their regard had been incorporated in the jamabandi for about 20 years.Opposing the appeal, they further argued that the land sold by the landlord must be included in the landlord’s permissible area, and the landlord cannot reduce the surplus area by making sales.