Citizen's Land Illegally Sold by Local Government

Biratnagar. For the past few days, there has been a wave of clearing encroached land across the country. Along with this, there is also an ongoing movement of squatters and landless people.

The heat of the campaign started under the leadership of Balendra (Balen) Shah's government has reached the nooks and corners of the country. While local governments are gearing up to remove those who have occupied government land, in Kanepokhari-6 of Morang, an incident has surfaced where the state's mechanisms themselves have encroached upon the land of a simple citizen and sold it to others.

He himself pays the land revenue fee, but Kanepokhari Rural Municipality and some individuals are in possession and enjoyment of it.

Rohitram Fuyal, 62, of Kanepokhari Rural Municipality Ward No. 6 (formerly Bayarban-8), is currently frequenting the hospital. Both his kidneys have failed, and he has been undergoing regular dialysis twice a week for the past four years. He is hopeful of getting his ancestral property back.

The story begins on October 15, 2039 BS. Rohitram's father, the late Narapati Fuyal, owned 14 kattha 3 dhur of land in plot no. 681 in the then Bayarban Ward No. 8 (now Kanepokhari-6). At that time, the then Village Panchayat Chairman DN Rai and Ward Chairman Prem Prakash Parajuli hatched a conspiracy.

They told the simple-natured Narapati, 'We need to hold a market on this land. You leave this land to the Panchayat, and in return, we will arrange 2 bigha of unallocated land elsewhere and also get you a job as an office assistant (peon) at Janasewa Secondary School.'

Succumbing to the temptation of a job and the pressure from powerful people in the Panchayat, Narapati put his signature on a plain paper. The land was exchanged. He got the job, but the promised 2 bigha of land had no legal basis, nor did he ever receive a land ownership certificate. The Panchayat seized his registered land but only kept him under the illusion of unallocated land.

The 14 kattha of land seized by the Panchayat at that time is now used for a lively market. The irony is that the land is still legally in Rohitram Fuyal's name.

The then Village Panchayat and the nearby Janasewa Secondary School, in collusion, sold that land to 14 people by creating forged documents.

'The land was taken by deceiving grandfather. Later, based on the school's letterhead stating that we sold this land to so-and-so, large houses and shops have now been built there. How can a school sell registered land? This is outright fraud by the state,' said Senjam Fuyal, Rohitram's son.

He stated that the rural municipality is collecting taxes from his father's land. 'Our land has even had huts built on it with budget from the rural municipality,' he said.

Currently, Chandrakala Poudel, Ratna Bahadur Poudel, Laxman Shrestha, Krishnakumari Karki, and 14 others are living there after building houses and huts. They claim to have bought the land from the school or the village panchayat, but none have a legal land ownership certificate.

'Our father seems to have bought the land as unallocated. We must have bought it from the rural municipality. I don't know much,' said the son of Chandrakala Poudel, who is residing on that land.

Rohitram still possesses the original red land ownership certificate for that land. He continues to pay land tax to the government. He has a receipt for taxes paid until Mangsir, 2081 BS. Legally, he is the owner of the land, but physically, he cannot even step on the gate of his land.

'The government is keeping others on my land and collecting tax from me. What kind of justice is this?' said Rohitram, undergoing dialysis. He has submitted an application to Hira Kumari Yadav, the chief administrative officer of Kanepokhari Rural Municipality, requesting the clearing of his land.

Rohitram's health condition is poor. At 62 years of age, with both kidneys failing, he is undergoing dialysis at a hospital in Biratnagar.

His son Senjam adds, 'Father himself is ill. He hopes to get his land back. We have appealed to everyone from local representatives to the administration, but everyone tries to dismiss it by saying it's a matter from the Panchayat era.'

He stated that with Balen Shah being discussed nationwide, they hope the government will rectify this historical injustice.

Hira Kumari Yadav, the chief administrative officer of Kanepokhari Rural Municipality, acknowledged receiving Rohitram's application. She stated that upon studying the land documents, the land legally appears to be in Fuyal's name.

However, removing the 14 families who have been residing there for decades has become challenging for the rural municipality.

Nevertheless, no one is above the law. If someone is occupying another's private property based on forged documents, it is the constitutional duty of the local government to clear it. Rohitram Fuyal still holds onto the hope of getting his land back.