ED probe sought into clean chit given by former MBMC chief in TDR scam

The matter pertains to former MBMC commissioner Dilip Dhole giving a clean chit in a case of alleged corruption in the allotment of TDR. Although the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had found substance in the allegations during its preliminary probe, Dhole was asked by the urban development department, headed by then urban development minister Eknath Shinde, to conduct the probe

Mumbai: Even as the enforcement directorate (ED) investigates the alleged Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) scam in the Mira Bhayander municipal corporation (MBMC), another alleged irregularity in the transfer of development rights (TDR) worth ₹265 crore has come to the fore.

ED probe sought into clean chit given by former MBMC chief in TDR scam

The matter pertains to former MBMC commissioner Dilip Dhole giving a clean chit in a case of alleged corruption in the allotment of TDR. Although the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had found substance in the allegations during its preliminary probe, Dhole was asked by the urban development department, headed by then urban development minister Eknath Shinde, to conduct the probe.

The alleged TDR scam goes back to July 2019, when former BJP corporator Sanjay Pange filed a complaint with the ACB, giving over a dozen examples of violations of the development control rules (DCR) while allotting TDR to various people. “As per the DCR, FSI available to plots measuring less than 1 hectare is 0.2 but the corporation allotted an FSI of 1,” said Pange. “Thanks to this, builders made a profit of over ₹265 crore as per the prevailing ready reckoner rate in the city. I had submitted the details of all these allotments for over ten years and also cited a high court ruling in a Pune case. The ACB found substance in it and had sought permission from the government to conduct the probe since it was against two senior officials of the corporation.”

The ACB Mumbai’s additional director-general (ADG) in July 2019 wrote to the principal secretary of the urban development department for an open inquiry into the allegations, saying that the ACB had found substance in the allegations in its preliminary inquiry, and thus they needed to be probed further. “Therefore, grant us permission under Section 17(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act to conduct a probe against Dilip Gheware and Satyawan Dhangave, the two officials from the corporation responsible for the irregularities…” the letter stated.

However, the urban development department asked Dhole to conduct the probe. After two years, in July 2021, it told the ACB that it had found no irregularities in the allotment as per the report submitted by the MBMC. The department was headed by then urban development minister Eknath Shinde.

“According to the report submitted by the Mira Bhayander Corporation commissioner (Dilip Dhole), the corporation has informed us that the TDR has been given for reserved plots and not to the plots in a no development zone. The TDR approvals have been given as per the development control rules of the corporation,” a letter by an under-secretary of the UDD written in July 2021 stated.

After the ED issued summons to Dhole in the ULC scam, he was shunted out of the Navi Mumbai municipal corporation on Wednesday. Complainant Pange has now said that the TDR scam is similar to the ULC scam and should ideally be probed again by the ED.

HT has copies of all the letters.

According to officials from the UDD, the complaint related to TDR is the same as the ULC scam. “It was inappropriate to seek a report from the same civic body where the irregularities had taken place, especially after the ACB was said to have found substance in the charges,” said an official. “The Comptroller and Auditor General too had passed strictures against the allotment of TDR by the corporation. The probe could be reopened if the investigating agencies decide to do so.”

When contacted, Dhole said that both cases of alleged violation—in ULC and TDR—dated back to 2016, while he was appointed commissioner in March 2021. “Even the case related to TDR is an old one, and I do not remember having submitted any report to the government,” he said. “The UDD will be able to give more information about it.”