Crimes, disputes, and cases of land grabbing are on the rise in the northern district of Thakurgaon.
Certain loopholes in the State Acquisition (SA) record system put in place in 1962 still persist and allow land grabbers to exploit them.
Local administration believes this is due to lack of timely government policy-making intervention, and the inept efforts of land authorities, the judiciary, and the administration.
The district’s sub-registrars have to rely on SA records with mutation and tax documents to assess the buying and selling of property. In preparing wills, powers of attorney, and other land documents, they tend to only consider whether the owners’ name is present on the SA record. This results in a faulty land registration system.
With every passing day the backlog of land dispute cases increases. Regulations to prove land ownership differ significantly in court and during land registration. Languishing cases and loopholes in the SA record system allow for dishonest and greedy land grabbers to exploit the situation.
More often than not, land grabbers file for new mutation documents based on previous SA records of ancestors of heirs who may have sold the land already. With mutation documents, they register the land once again -- a process which only considers the name on the SA record -- and they walk out with legitimate papers that establish their ownership of the land.
In essence, with a little strong arming, the land can be sold repeatedly exploiting this simple, yet major loophole in the system. For some, this translates into the loss of dearly held property.
Thakurgaon residents subject to this kind of suffering can only hope for divine intervention after lengthy legal procedures.
Abdul Mojid of Asrampara, said: “In 1990, I bought some land directly from the owner after assessing all necessary documents. Since then, I have completed mutation and paid land tax. However, the grandchildren of the original owners are now laying claim to my property by with new registration documents from the sub-registry office based on their grandparents’ names on the SA record. Since my land was empty, they took it over and are now building on it.”
“Land grabbers entice the heirs of lands with SA records still in the name of their ancestors to continue this practice. They use political influence leaving people no choice but to file cases and because of the lengthy procedure, in my case 20 years, grabbers are hardly affected,” he added.
It is the same for Shoriful Islam in Shahapara, whose case has also been hanging for the last 20 years.
Regarding the issue, Mohsin Ali, a senior advocate working at the District Judges Court, said: “The process of ascertaining ownership of land in court, and during land registration is contradictory. In this regard, the additional commission, land and sub-registrar need to maintain a similar procedure. About 40-50% of cases are filed by virtue of loopholes.”
Thakurgaon Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Md Aminul Islam also echoed similar concerns. “We are facing multiple problems in providing services for land registration and ownership. Often in the records, land is left undivided despite being sold off in part, and the discrepancy in SA records allow for one to illegitimately claim someone else’s property. We have notified higher-ups about the situation and the government is actively working to bring the three departments that provide land services, under one umbrella.”
District Registrar Md Abu Taleb Sarkar said: “We are obligated to provide registration as long as the SA records have the names of the ancestors of the heirs. If there are multiple heirs to the property, they must divide, prepare mutations, and update tax documents before transferring the land. Only then will the backlog of cases subside. We have appealed to the ministry in this regard.