Malda Training Diary - Administrative Training Institute

From : Pradip Bhattacharya, I.A.S.
Assistant Magistrate & Collector, Malda
Page 160 of 160
To : R. K. Midha, I.A.S.
District Magistrate & Collector, Malda
4 th August, 1972
Subject: Allegation of corruption against Sri Sunil Kumar Bose Bhagchash, clerk,
Habibpur L.R.Circle office
Sir,
In pursuance of your order U.O. No.2262-G dated 1.7.1972, I held enquiries into the
allegation on 27 th and 20 th July, 1972, at the J.L.R.O. Habibpur office, the home of the
petitioners in village Dharenda-Boldanga, and at the Habibpur Block office.
A preliminary enquiry at the Habibpur L.R. Circle office revealed that the Bhagchash
cases are in a lamentable state of neglect and irregular practices. The statutory provision laid
down in the L.R. Act that these cases be tried and decided within 21 days of filing is, of
course, simply impossible in view of the fact that litigation is especially high in this particular
L.R. Circle. However, it was found that:-
1. A series of orders giving ever-fresh dates for bearing of cases had not been signed by
the Bhagchash Officer (the J.L.R.O.), so that the succeeding orders giving fresh-dates
have no validity. For instance, in case 271-D, orders dated 25.12.71, 19.1.72, 10.5.72
have not been signed. Further, on each of these three dates the B.C.O. is stated to have
been out on tour. Hence a by-date ought to have been given. He cannot, obviously,
sign an order on 25.12.71 when he was out on tour that day, and not present for the
hazira. There are several such other cases.
2. In many cases no order has been passed for over two to three months after the last
date on which hearing was supposed to take place. There is no way of finding out
whether or not the hearing did take place. Thus, again in case 271-D, on 10.5.72 the
unsigned order gives 14.6.72 as a fresh date, But after 10.5.72 there is no entry in the
order sheet at all. This is but one of the many such cases.
3. The pending-list of Bhagchash cases was found to be incorrect as it did not include
many of the pending cases. Thus false or wrong returns are being sent to the Board of
Revenue. To take two instances, case nos. 270-D and 272-D are pending but not
included in the list. It was found that the clerk does not check his list with the register
of Bhagchash cases.
4. It was found that the B.C.O. never sees the register, nor inspects the condition of the
cases. There is no system of a monthly compilation of pending cases. The whole
system at present in such that the clerk concerned is the be-all and the end-all
regarding disposal of the cases since the officer does not even carry out routine
inspection.
5. The Bhagchash case register, being never seen by the B.C.O. though he can easily
have a system of at least initialling each entry in the “Remarks” column, is open to
tempering. It was found that entry sl. no. 279, case 279-D had been completely
blocked-out by pasting white paper over the portion. No satisfactory explanation for
this could be given by the clerk except that the entry contained numerous deletions
and crossings-out. In that case it should have been re-entered lower down after being
duly brought to the notice of the B.C.O., and having been signed with appropriate
remarks by him in the “Remarks” column.
It can be concluded, on the basis of the above findings, that the situation existing in the
Habibpur L.R. Circle is such as to encourage and facilitate corruption. Even exclusive of the
veracity of the petition filed by Gobin and Jalpa Hasda against the Bhagachash Clerk,