PATNA, Oct. 27 -- The Bihar revenue and land reforms department on Monday ordered departmental action against six circle officers (COs) on the charges of negligence, procedural lapses and irregularities in revenue and land mutation cases, details of which emerged during a review by minister Dilip Jaiswal on Monday. The officers were found indulging in cases ranging from wrongful issuance of caste certificates and financial impropriety to prolonged pendency of mutation (dakhil-kharij) applications and failure to follow prescribed procedures. In one instance, the department has directed registration of an FIR, while in others, it has ordered stopping of increments or framing of charge-sheets. According a senior officer of the department, Om Prakash Bhagat, then CO of Thakurganj in Kishanganj, faces the sternest action. He is accused of issuing a backward-class caste certificate to a person whose community was not eligible under Section 135 of the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act, 2006, for a reserved post. The department has ordered withholding of two increments with cumulative effect and registration of a criminal case against him. Similar action has been directed against the concerned revenue officer and revenue employee. Nishchal Prem, then CO of Kishanganj, faces disciplinary proceedings for alleged financial irregularities, including advance payment without a work order. Jitendra Kumar Singh, then CO of Akorhigola in Rohtas, has been ordered to have three increments stopped (non-cumulative) for approving mutation without informing all co-raiyats in a joint jamabandi and for disposing of a case before the objection period ended. Raj Narayan Raja, former circle officer of Hathua in Gopalganj, faces withholding of two increments for keeping four mutation cases pending for more than a year despite repeated reminders, in violation of departmental instructions. Charge-sheets have been framed against Lalan Kumar Mandal (then Barari CO in Katihar) for failing to get encroached land vacated and non-compliance with a government order, and against Mahesh Prasad Singh (then CO, Mansahi of Katihar) for accepting mutation and khatian applications contrary to orders of the deputy collector land reforms. The crackdown comes amid heightened scrutiny of the revenue machinery following a series of high-profile cases involving land records. In Muzaffarpur, suspended Musahari circle officer Mahendra Prasad Shukla and revenue officer Karun Kumar were arrested earlier this month in connection with an alleged land fraud involving about 70 decimals of land valued at around Rs.15 crore. Police accused them of colluding with land mafias, using forged documents for mutation, accepting objections in the names of deceased persons, and deliberately delaying applications. Both were produced in court and remanded to judicial custody. Land mutation and record correction remain among the most complaint-prone areas of administration in Bihar. Delays, alleged collusion and procedural shortcuts have long fuelled disputes, RTI complaints and occasional criminal cases. The department has previously taken action against dozens of circle and revenue officers on similar grounds of dereliction, corruption and violation of directives. The Bihar Revenue Service Association (BiRSA) and allied bodies have in the past resorted to protests, including token and indefinite strikes, over service conditions, postings and what they describe as arbitrary action against field officers. They have repeatedly demanded clearer standard operating procedures and protection for officers discharging sensitive land-related duties. The latest arrests and departmental penalties are likely to sharpen that demand for transparent guidelines on inquiry, suspension and prosecution in revenue cases. Revenue minister Dilip Jaiswal has in recent months emphasised zero tolerance for negligence in land matters, stating that the department faces the highest volume of corruption allegations and that corrective action is under way....