₹35 lakh paid, then the truth: why 'Golden Forest' land keeps trapping buyers in Dehradun

The latest case

In August 2026, Raipur police in Dehradun registered a cheating case over a land deal. According to the complaint, a man offered roughly 1,910 square metres in Danda Lakhond as his own. An agreement was signed in January 2026 and the buyer paid ₹35 lakh on the spot, with the balance to follow after the documents were checked.

The checking came later — and it showed that:

• The revenue records listed the land in the name of Golden Forest, not the seller.
• The land was reportedly mortgaged to the state Excise Department against dues of about ₹1.31 crore, and the seller had no no-objection certificate from the department.
• When the buyer started construction, the municipal corporation stopped the work — after which the seller stopped answering calls.

Police are now looking into the land's legal status, the agreement and the payment.

What "Golden Forest" land is

In the 1990s, Golden Forest India Limited and its sister concerns bought land on a large scale in Uttarakhand. Questions arose over breaches of the ceiling limits in Section 154(1) of the land law, and the matter went up to the Supreme Court. Ever since, these properties have been tangled in restrictions on transfer and litigation.

Yet the land keeps getting sold:

• In one matter before the Uttarakhand High Court, it was alleged that land sold to the company in 1995 was resold in 2006 through a power-of-attorney holder who had died in 2005.
• During an inspection of the Vikasnagar sub-registrar's office in May 2026, the District Magistrate found about 150 suspect registrations linked to Golden Forest.
• In February 2026, over the sale of court-restricted land, the administration ordered a case against the buyer as well as the seller.

Remember: buy restricted land and you do not only risk your money — you can end up facing legal action yourself.

Three mistakes in this case

1. Paying before checking. ₹35 lakh went out on the agreement itself. The right order is the reverse: check first, then the token.
2. Trusting the seller's papers. The buyer never looked up whose name was on the Khatauni.
3. Ignoring the mortgage. Land mortgaged to a government department cannot be cleanly sold without its no-objection certificate.

Before buying land in Dehradun

• Open the khasra on Bhulekh: if the owner is a company, "Golden Forest" or the government, stop right there.
• Read the Kaifiyat column: is any mortgage or dues of a department or bank recorded?
• Ask the tehsil and the sub-registrar's office, in writing, whether the khasra is under any court or government restriction.
• If the sale is on a power of attorney, confirm the real owner is alive and that the power of attorney is registered and valid.
• Keep the token small, write a "full refund if the papers turn out wrong" clause into the agreement, and pay only through a bank.

PakkaKagaz's scam test and Bhulekh match are built to catch exactly these mistakes.

Full report: Garhwal Post