Tardy implementation of rules to renew lease of Defence land has resulted in a loss of Rs 829.71 crore as revenue to the exchequer. And despite repeated caution by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the situation has not improved.
The Defence Ministry is the biggest land holder in the country with more than 17 lakh acres in its possession and 12,364 acres of it is encroached in many parts of the country due to improper maintenance of land records and lack of action against the encroachers.
In its report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday on improper management of Defence land, the CAG said the loss of Rs 829.71 crore occurred due to undue delay in renewal of lease in six test cases. The Defence Ministry leases out land to public and private bodies and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and CAG has repeatedly asked the Ministry to streamline its procedures to avoid revenue loss.
The six test cases included Royal Calcutta Turf Club (Kolkata), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation limited (Delhi Cantonment), Indian Oil Corporation (Pune), Bharat Petroleum (Delhi Cantonment), Thane Sporting Club Committee (Thane) and Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (Nainital).
Calcutta Turf Club, which was leased out 153.416 acres, topped the list with Rs 814.00 crore outstanding amount. Its lease was not renewed from 2007 despite clear orders from the Defence Ministry to the Defence estate department to initiate action at least one year before the date of expiry of lease in each case. The constitutional watchdog also noted that in some other cases besides the present lot, the leases were not renewed and rental not realised from a period of four years to 46 years. Incidentally, the Indian Oil Corporation lease in Pune has not been renewed since 1966, it said.
Even though serious lapses and irregularities were pointed by the PAC and CAG in their reports earlier occasions, the ex-lessees continued to occupy prime Defence land illegally even after expiry of leases. The CAG said PAC had recommended four measures in 2007 to avoid revenue loss like maintenance of proper records regarding execution of lease deeds and renewal of lease through a calendar.
The other steps were identification of all cases of lease pending form more than six months and to prescribe a time frame for their finalisation, adopt a policy with an inbuilt clause for reasonable enhancement of rates every fives years and pinpoint responsibility for lapses on the part of the concerned officials. The CAG also observed that cases of encroachment by other departments and misuse by local military authorities for unauthorised purposes such as running of hotels and shopping complexes constructed from non-public funds continued unabated.