Maha government scraps 24-acre Kharghar land allotment by Fadnavis regime after panel found irregularities

Mumbai A controversial 24-acre land deal in Kharghar between a private builder and the previous Devendra Fadnavis regime was cancelled by the state’s Maharashtra

Mumbai A controversial 24-acre land deal in Kharghar between a private builder and the previous Devendra Fadnavis regime was cancelled by the state’s Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, after a judicial committee probing the matter found irregularities in the allotment. The Congress, which along with Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is part of MVA, had in July 2018 alleged a Rs1,767-crore scam in the allotment done by then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government.

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Congress leaders Sanjay Nirupam and Randeep Singh Surjewala had alleged that the Fadnavis government had facilitated the deal for the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) plot worth Rs1,767 crore to benefit a builder, who purchased it for Rs3.6 crore. They had alleged that the notified land was sold to the builder “in the name of compensating a handful of farmers affected by the Koyna power project decades ago”. Rubbishing the allegations, Fadnavis had, in August 2018, stayed the deal and ordered a probe by a retired judge.

The state had appointed a one-member panel under retired judge RC Chavan, who submitted his report to the government in July 2019. The panel found irregularities in the allotment of the plot, although the report said there was no illegality in the deal. The urban development department (UDD) of the state then directed the Raigad Collector and CIDCO to submit their responses to the panel’s findings.

The Raigad collector informed the state – in an order issued two weeks ago – that the allotment had been cancelled over “breach of conditions” by the allottees. “We have cancelled the allotment and have informed the state government through our submission to the urban development department (UDD). Since the deal itself has been cancelled, the ‘irregularities’ mentioned in the report have been nullified,” said an official from the collectorate.

A Mantralaya official, on condition of anonymity, said the land allotted by the collector was notified as Cidco land, although it was not handed over to the planning authority, and thus its rights on the land were accrued. The committee reportedly raised questions over this as an “irregularity”.

The UDD, meanwhile, found contradiction in CIDCO’s responses. The planning authority had earlier said the land belongs to the collector, but in its latest submission, it stated that the land belongs to them.

The official said the committee also noted that the collector had the right to allot the land to project affected people (PAPs), but the set rules for the allotment were not followed. “There are hundreds of eligible PAPs in the waiting list, despite which the allotment was done to a select few, out of turn. Similarly, the PAPs should have been given agricultural land instead of the one given in the heart of the city, the committee observed in its report,” said the official.

The Chavan committee was asked to probe into eight terms of references, including ownership of the land; Cidco’s right to allot the land to PAPs; whether the transfer of land was legal; and whether change in use of land was allowed. It also was mandated to probe the land allotment to PAPs in the past 15 years and probe if allotment and transfers were as per the rules.

Reacting to the cancellation of the land allotment, Nirupam called it a move “to save officials involved”. “The officials involved in wrongdoing should be punished, or else, more such allotments will keep happening in future too,” he said.

Fadnavis refused to comment. However, an official from his office said, “The CM had no powers to allot any such land as the powers were delegated to the additional collector by Fadnavis after coming to the power. Fadnavis had stayed the allotment, but the court stayed the move when the allottee moved court. The file related to this allotment never came to Fadnavis.”