164 hectares of mining lease transferred for one thousand stamp duty; the collector sent notice to Nuvoco Vistas.
Dispatch News.
Janjgir-Champa. In the matter of selling 164 hectares of land (mining lease) to Nuvoco Vistas Company for stamp duty of only one thousand rupees, the collector has issued a notice and sought a reply within seven days.
The Lafarge Cement Plant operating at Arsmeta Gopal Nagar (Akaltara) of Janjgir-Champa district was transferred to Nuvco in the name of Vistas (Nirma Group) in the year 2018. In this case, the government should have imposed a stamp duty of 6 crores as per rules; but was changed to only one thousand. Reportedly, Raymond sold the plant to Lafarge in 2001 and Lafarge to Nuvoco in 2018, but no one has got the plant registered. The sub-registrar of Janjgir handed over the mining lease from Lafarge to Nuvaco Company for a fee of only one thousand. On this, Collector Jitendra Shukla called for a report from Patwari and came to know that the mining lease got sold but, the plant is still in the name of Raymond. The collector was also shocked to see the report of the Patwari. The cement plant was sold, but only the mining lease, not the plant. The mining lease was also transferred in the name of Nuvoco by the then sub-registrar by taking only one thousand stamp duty. According to sources, the officers had tried to mislead the collector by saying that the revenue board had given a verdict for Baloda Bazar after selling the mining lease for 1000 rupees. The collector said that if the Revenue Board gave the decision, it had to be challenged in the court.
This mess has started from Janjgir, so it cannot be avoided by referring to the case of Baloda Bazar. Collector Jitendra Shukla, furious about this, has written a DO letter to the IG Registration asking them to tell whether the sale of 164 hectares of lease for one thousand rupees is proper or improper. On the other hand, Nuvoco has sent a notice to the company’s Mumbai headquarters and sought a reply in this regard within seven days. He wrote that when the sale deed was done with Lafarge in 2001 from Raymond, for what reasons the transfer was not done and then when Lafarge sold the plant to Nuvoco, why it was not registered. The plant worth 784 crores got sold for 42 crores. The Board of Revenue has imposed a liability of 200 crores on Raymond for this. Raymond is now asking the High Court for a stay on this.