The case pertains to the sale-deed of house no. 3,127 in Sector 21-D, which was allotted by the Administration to a resident of Patiala, R S Dass, in the 1960s. After the demise of Dass, the house was transferred to his wife and subsequently to their son Gopal Krishan Bhalla. In 2001, Bhalla executed a sale-deed in favour of another Patiala resident, D K Singla. The sale-deed was registered in the office of the UT Sub-Registrar, but apparently without obtaining an NOC from the Estate Office. Soon after, Singla, the then Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Punjab, filed an eviction suit against the tenants residing in the house in 2002. The same year, G K Bhalla passed away.

One of the tenants, C B Anand, lodged a series of complaints questioning the authenticity of the sale-deed. Demanding that the deed be cancelled and a criminal case registered against the executor of the sale-deed, purchaser, witnesses and even officials of the Estate Office, Anand said the sale-deed was invalid as an NOC had not been issued.

Consequently, the Estate Office sent an official communication (in possession of Newsline) to Singla, asking him to explain “under what circumstances the deed was executed without issuance of NOC”.

Talking to Newsline, Anand said: “How could the Sub-Registrar register the sale-deed without even noticing that the NOC was missing from the file? It could not have happened without the connivance of the officials of the Estate Office. After years of long battle, we can heave a sigh of relief now that the Home Secretary has asked for immediate action.”

On the other hand, D K Singla said: “The matter is sub judice. I don’t want to comment on the issue.”