'Grave Misgivings' Over IAS, IPS Officers Buying 2,000-Hectare Land on Same Day, CCG Writes to Madhya Pradesh CM

New Delhi: Members of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), a forum of retired Indian civil servants, have written an open letter to Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav expressing their shock and raising concern over the recent purchase of over 2,000 hectares of agricultural land by IAS and IPS officers.

The letter, dated May 15, 2026, was undersigned by 62 former civil servants. “We have been shocked by a news report, published in the Dainik Bhaskar of 10 April, 2026, regarding purchase of land by officers of the IAS and IPS in Village Gudari Ghat of Kolar region of your state. The allegations are serious,” they said, listing them under seven points based on a Dainik Bhaskar report.

According to the daily, an investigation into the Immovable Property Returns (IPR) filed by the IAS officers in Madhya Pradesh revealed a massive land investment in Guradi Ghat village near Kolar area in Bhopal. Nearly 50 IAS and IPS officers from across the country reportedly purchased plots on the same day – April 4, 2022.

The land purchases also happens to be around a proposed Rs 3,200-crore Bhopal Western Bypass. the project was green-lighted on August 31, 2023, around 16 months after this land purchase.

They reportedly purchased 2.023 hectares of agricultural land in the above-named village through one registered deed, even though no society has been incorporated by them. 

As per the letter, the sale amount in the deed is Rs. 5.50 crores, though the market value of the land at the time was Rs. 7.78 crore. Moreover, it skyrocketed after the approval of the bypass project.

“Barely 16 months later, on 31st August 2023, the state government approved the construction of a Western Bypass road from Fanda to Ratanpur, which skirts the purchased (subject) land at a distance of just 500 meters,” they said adding that in June 2024, the land use of the said land was “changed from Agricultural to Residential”.

“In April 2022 the cost of land in the village was Rs. 81.75 per sq. foot; in June 2024 (after the approval of the Bypass road) it became Rs. 557 per sq. foot; the current rate (after the change in land use) is Rs. 2500-3000 per sq. foot.

“The appreciation in value of the land purchased by the officers is between Rs.50 to Rs. 60 crores, in just four years,” the letter read.

They pointed out that it was “highly unusual” and cannot be a coincidence that so many officers would buy land in the same region on the same day. They also noted that such a disparate list of share-holders for one parcel of land is more common in a business transaction than in a private residential investment/purchase.

“Notwithstanding the suspicions raised… if there was indeed a commonality of purpose among these 50 officers, why was a cooperative society not registered by them and the purchase effected through such society?” they asked, noting that that would have been the obvious, and transparent, thing to do. 

“Not doing so raises grave misgivings about the true intent of the transaction and its transparency,” they said.

The CCG has called for an inquiry into whether any of the officers involved belonged to the Madhya Pradesh cadre and had links to departments connected to the bypass project or the land-use approval process.

“Government officers, especially those belonging to the All India Services (AIS), are the ultimate custodians of law, and any aspersion that they are manipulating the law for their personal benefit, must be fully investigated, promptly and impartially,” they said.

Meanwhile, another group, the System Parivartan Abhiyan (SPA), has demanded a high-level probe into land deals around the proposed bypass, over allegations that the officers acquired plots through dishonest means.

The SPA, which is an anti-corruption outfit in Madhya Pradesh, has also written to chief minister Yadav seeking the immediate cancellation of the 35-km project, claiming its alignment was altered three times, but it continued to benefit bureaucrats.

Read the full letter by CCG:

CCG Open Letter to the Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh –
Land transaction by All India Service officers

15 May 2026

Hon’ble Chief Minister,

We are a group of former civil servants united by a desire to encourage the highest standards of integrity, probity, transparency and observance of constitutional values in public life. We do not owe allegiance to any political party or institution and, as a collective, we have no ideology other than that of good governance and public morality. It is in this context that we have deemed it necessary to pen this letter to you.

We have been shocked by a news report, published in the Dainik Bhaskar of 10 April, 2026, regarding purchase of land by officers of the IAS and IPS in Village Gudari Ghat of Kolar region of your state. The allegations are serious and include, inter-alia, the following:

* Fifty officers of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi and Telangana cadres have, on the same day i.e. 4th April, 2022, purchased 2.023 hectares of agricultural land in the above-named village.

* The purchase has been made through one registered deed, even though no society has been incorporated by them.

* The sale amount in the deed is Rs. 5.50 crores, though the market value of the land at the time was Rs. 7.78 crore.

* Barely 16 months later, on 31st August 2023, the state government approved the construction of a Western Bypass road from Fanda to Ratanpur, which skirts the purchased (subject) land at a distance of just 500 meters.

* In June 2024, ten months after the approval of the Bypass, the land use of the said land was changed from Agricultural to Residential.

* In April 2022 the cost of land in the village was Rs. 81.75 per sq. foot; in June 2024 (after the approval of the Bypass road) it became Rs. 557 per sq. foot; the current rate (after the change in land use) is Rs. 2500-3000 per sq. foot.

* The appreciation in value of the land purchased by the officers is between Rs.50 to Rs. 60 crores, in just four years.

You would agree that the allegations made in this report, and the insinuation of grave wrong-doing, should be a matter of concern for all of us, especially for your government. If the facts stated are true, they do raise the following questions in the mind of any reasonable person:

[1] Was it a mere coincidence that 50 officers from different states got together to purchase land in the same village as one parcel on the same day? This is highly unusual.

[2] None of us in our entire careers has ever seen such a disparate list of  share-holders for one parcel of land. Such a list is more common in a business transaction than in a private residential investment/purchase.

[3] Notwithstanding the suspicions raised by [1] and [2] above, if there was indeed a commonality of purpose among these 50 officers, why was a cooperative society not registered by them and the purchase effected through such society? That would have been the obvious, and transparent, thing to do. It is also how such collective purchases are affected. Not doing so raises grave misgivings about the true intent of the transaction and its transparency.

[4] Which officer/s was/were the driving force behind this transaction? Did such officers have any inside information about the impending sanction of the Western Bypass Road, and subsequently of the change in land use? How, and at whose request, was the change in land use affected? Is this common practice for village areas? It would be reasonable to assume that these officers would belong to your (MP) cadre, and therefore it has to be seen if they were in any way connected to the departments dealing with both issues – the approval of the Bypass Road and the change of land use.

The allegations have been raised publicly by a leading newspaper and they need to be responded to by your government. Government officers, especially those belonging to the All India Services (AIS), are the ultimate custodians of law, and any aspersion that they are manipulating the law for their personal benefit, must be fully investigated, promptly and impartially.

We would, therefore, earnestly request you to order an immediate inquiry by a retired judge of the High Court into these highly suspicious series of fortuitous circumstances and coincidences that appear to have hugely benefited these officers financially. Furthermore, till the inquiry is concluded, the government should order a blanket stay on the sale or alienation of the land purchased by these officers. We strongly feel that the cloud of suspicion needs to be dispelled, one way or the other, and only a proper inquiry can do so. AIS officers have to be held to a higher standard of integrity than other government officials, even if they have to pass through a trial by fire.

SATYAMEVA JAYATE

Yours faithfully,

Constitutional Conduct Group (62 signatories, as below)

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