Illegal activities in stamp department exposed

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Over the past two months, assistant district registrar Vivek Gangurde issued four letters to deputy registrars requesting information on the registration of ‘Agreement to Sell’ executed after November 2025. However, the deputy registrars failed to provide any information to their seniors. This reluctance is seen as enabling illegal activities in the stamp department.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Stamps Vijay Bhalerao had earlier instructed all deputy registrars not to register any land parcels under the name of ‘Agreement to Sell’. Despite this, the deputy registrar of Office No. 2 ignored the letter. Following complaints that new parcels were being created and registered under ‘Agreement to Sell’ across the district, Gangurde issued notices clarifying that registration under this name is illegal and directed the officials to provide details within four days if any such registrations had been made. Deputy registrars from Offices 1, 2, and 5 responded vaguely to the notice.

Government Orders

The government has annulled the law permitting arbitrary land sub-division and ordered that only land parcels created before October 15, 2024 can be regularised. Further, to regularise old land parcels, an SOP was issued on November 3, 2025. It specifies that no registration should be made for areas smaller than the prescribed size, and registration cannot occur without approved demarcation from the competent authority.