In a city as politically aware, vibrant and administratively complex as Lahore, few departments affect the daily lives of citizens as directly as the Revenue Department. Matters such as land mutation, inheritance verification, demarcation and record correction are unavoidable for households across socioeconomic lines. However, over the past one to one-and-a-half years, a growing body of evidence suggests that the system in Lahore has been deeply compromised by widespread corruption, abuse of authority and deliberate delays allegedly orchestrated by a significant number of newly recruited tehsildars.
Multiple sources within the district administration and the revenue hierarchy confirm that these officers have operated with remarkable impunity, turning routine public services into tools of coercion. According to officials familiar with internal proceedings, citizens are routinely forced into paying bribes to move files related to mutations, inheritance certificates, land record reports and LDA-related verifications. Artificial objections, prolonged unavailability of tehsildars and unexplained delays stretching into weeks and months have reportedly become institutionalised practices.
What is particularly alarming, officials say, is the confidence with which some of these officers allegedly justify their conduct. In private conversations, several are reported to have claimed that they are merely “recovering” the costs incurred to secure their postings. These remarks raise serious questions about the recruitment process itself and the apparent failure of oversight mechanisms at the Board of Revenue.
The scale of the problem is reflected in the volume of complaints reaching assistant commissioners’ offices across Lahore. Senior administrative officers privately acknowledge that, under normal circumstances, a large majority of these tehsildars would have faced dismissal proceedings by now. However, action has reportedly been stalled due to a shortage of replacement staff and institutional reluctance to confront the issue head-on.
The situation on the ground has further deteriorated with the alleged deployment of private individuals – including drivers, personal aides and unauthorised agents – inside patwar khanas. These individuals are said to play a central role in file handling, objection placement and the collection of illegal payments. Their identities, sources claim, are widely known within the revenue circles, yet no meaningful action has been taken against them.
The gravity of the allegations came into sharp focus following the arrest of Tehsildar Abdul Rehman of Allama Iqbal Town by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab. The registration of Case No. 70/2025 under the Punjab Anti-Corruption Ordinance, 1961, along with digital evidence recovered from mobile phones indicating financial transactions, has exposed what investigators describe as a structured corruption network rather than an isolated act of misconduct.
According to investigation officials, the case involves allegations of accepting bribes from marriage halls to circumvent action under the Punjab Marriage Functions Act, 2016, routing payments through agents, and linking compliance with court orders to illegal gratification. Senior officials note that the operational complexity of the scheme suggests the involvement of multiple actors rather than a lone official. Administrative circles have credited ADC (Revenue) Lahore, Muhammad Sohaib Butt, for initiating a decisive action against departmental corruption.
Nevertheless, questions persist over whether a single high-profile arrest is sufficient to dismantle what appears to be a deeply entrenched system. Critics argue that without comprehensive audits, transparent inspections and strict accountability, isolated actions risk being reduced to symbolic gestures.
Experts and civil society voices are now calling for immediate measures, including a performance audit of all recently recruited tehsildars, scrutiny of objection patterns and processing delays, the removal of unauthorised private staff from revenue offices, and the activation of a real-time monitoring system at the Board of Revenue. There is also growing demand for a digital, citizen-facing complaint and tracking mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability at the tehsil level.
Observers warn that continued inaction will not only perpetuate financial exploitation but will further erode public trust in state institutions. “This is no longer just about corruption,” a senior official remarked. “It is about the credibility of governance itself.”
The pressing question remains whether the Board of Revenue will move beyond assurances and take systemic corrective action – or whether meaningful reform will only follow the next arrest.