The suspended IAS officer Abhishek Prakash is likely to face deeper trouble as the Revenue Department is preparing a comprehensive chargesheet in connection with the Bhatagaon land scam. The chargesheet may also include queries seeking his response to various media reports related to the case. Once finalized, it will be sent to the Department of Appointments and Personnel for review before being officially served to him.
The scam involves significant irregularities in land acquisition for the Defence Corridor project. A detailed probe was conducted by a committee led by Dr. Rajneesh Dubey, then Chairman of the Board of Revenue, which submitted its report last year.
The investigation found that a land allotment file dated January 28, 1985, was fabricated. It falsely showed land leases in the names of 90 individuals. Decades later—35 to 36 years after the alleged allotment—the names were fraudulently entered into revenue records as legal landholders with transferable rights, bypassing due legal procedures. Originally recorded as non-transferable leaseholders, these entries were later illegally converted to reflect transferable ownership.
In addition, land originally granted to Scheduled Caste (SC) beneficiaries was unlawfully sold to non-SC individuals. Key facts were deliberately hidden to obtain official approval for such transfers. The report also highlights that, as part of a larger conspiracy, compensation was wrongly claimed for Gram Sabha (village community) land.
All these findings have been prominently included in the draft chargesheet. Unlike in typical cases, where the Department of Appointments issues chargesheets against IAS officers, the drafting in this instance has been assigned to the Revenue Department to ensure thoroughness. Media coverage has also been factored into the process.
Alongside Abhishek Prakash—who served as the District Magistrate of Lucknow at the time—several Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) and Tehsildars have also been named as responsible in the matter.
