Srinagar Anti-Corruption Court Convicts Patwari in Bribery Case; ACB Files Chargesheet Against Another Official in Udhampur

SRINAGAR/UDHAMPUR, March 16, 2026 — In a significant legal victory for the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), the Hon’ble Special Judge Anti-Corruption Court Srinagar, Dr. Tasleem Arief Ganie, has convicted Bashir Ahmad Dar, a former Girdawar, for his role in a 2012 bribery case.

Dar was found guilty under the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 161 RPC for demanding and accepting a ₹1,000 bribe in exchange for issuing land Intikhabs for a property measuring over 36 Kanals. Following a successful trap operation where he was caught red-handed, the court has sentenced him to two years of simple imprisonment with a ₹10,000 fine for corruption charges, plus an additional one-year sentence and a ₹5,000 fine for the RPC violation.

In a separate enforcement action, the ACB Udhampur-Reasi has produced a formal chargesheet against Mohd Saleem Banday, a former Patwari, for the illegal attestation of land mutation No. 2338. Investigations revealed that Banday, in collusion with a now-deceased Naib Tehsildar, abused his official position to confer ownership rights under Section 6 of the J&K Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976, to several beneficiaries for commercial shop properties.

This action was a direct violation of the law, as the specific section of the Act applies exclusively to dwelling houses occupied by tillers, not commercial establishments.

Banday, who is currently in judicial custody for a separate 2026 trap case and faces another pending investigation from 2013, remains a central figure in the Bureau’s ongoing efforts to uphold transparency and accountability within the revenue department.