The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Jammu and Kashmir has registered two separate FIRs against Abdul Majid Malla, a Girdawar Qanoongo currently serving in the Nowshera Tehsil of Boniyar. The cases pertain to allegations of disproportionate assets and illegal and fraudulent mutations in revenue records.
The first FIR, No. 07/2024, has been filed under Section 5(1)(e) read with 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, Svt 2006. The ACB’s verification process uncovered substantial evidence of disproportionate assets in the form of immovable and movable properties acquired by Malla in his name and in the names of his family members.
The identified properties include several plots of land in Wahigund, Kunzer, and Pattan, Baramulla, totaling over 16 kanals. Specific properties listed include 5 kanals and 13 marlas at Wahigund, Kunzer (Survey No. 04), 3 marlas at Wahigund, Kunzer (Survey No. 216/73), 10.05 marlas at Wahigund, Kunzer (Survey No. 215/73), 13 marlas at Wahigund, Kunzer (Survey No. 91), 1 kanal at Wahigund, Kunzer (in the name of Malla’s wife), 4 kanals and 04 marlas at Wahigund, Kunzer, 1 kanal and 10 marlas at Wahigund, Kunzer (in the name of Malla’s son, Ishfaq Majid), 13 marlas with a single-storey structure and two shops at Pattan (in the name of Malla’s wife), and 3 marlas at Pattan.
Malla has also constructed a double-storey house with a plinth area of 600 square feet on ancestral land in Wahigund, Kunzer, and is involved in dubious transactions across various bank accounts. These assets and expenditures are significantly disproportionate to his known sources of income, which Malla failed to justify satisfactorily.
Following the verification, searches at Malla’s residence led to the seizure of ₹3.80 lakh in cash and other incriminating documents. The second FIR, No. 08/2024, has been registered under Sections 5(1)(d) read with 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, Svt 2006, and Sections 467, 468, 471, and 120-B of the RPC. This FIR involves allegations of illegal and fraudulent mutations in revenue records, whereby Malla acquired over 16 kanals of land through illegal mutations, evading applicable stamp duty and registration fees.
The investigation revealed that Malla fraudulently acquired these properties with the assistance of revenue officers Bashir Ahmad Reshi, then Patwari Halqa Wailoo, Kralpora, Manzoor Ahmad Khanday, then Patwari Halqa Wailoo, Kralpora, and Altaf Hussain Khan, then Naib Tehsildar Wailoo, Kralpora. These officials manipulated the revenue records, inserting illegal oral gift mutations to show substantial properties as orally gifted to Malla and his family, which were actually purchased.
Two specific fraudulent mutations (No. 117 and No. 123) were identified, involving illegal insertions in the revenue records, allowing Malla to evade taxes and registration charges, resulting in significant pecuniary gains for him and losses to the government exchequer. The ACB is currently conducting an ongoing investigation into the corrupt practices and accumulation of disproportionate assets by Malla and his associates. The bureau remains committed to uprooting corruption and ensuring accountability among public servants.
