PIL filed in HC seeking CBI probe in Lavasa project

Jadhav had alleged that though the Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Land Act, was amended in 2005, the clearance to the project was given in 2002 while Ajit Pawar was the minister for Irrigation and ex-officio chairman of the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation (MKVDC)

Mumbai A public interest litigation has been filed in the Bombay high court seeking directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR against senior officers of Pune police, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, his daughter and MP Supriya Sule and leader of opposition in assembly Ajit Pawar for the alleged illegal permissions granted for Lavasa hill station project in Pune district.

Mumbai, India - June 4, 2018: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar at his resident in Mumbai, India, on Monday, June 4, 2018. (Photo by Kunal Patil/Hindustan Times) (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

The petitioner has stated that after the HC had refused to interfere on his earlier PIL for a declaration that the special permission granted to the project was illegal on account of delay in taking up the issue, he was constrained to approach the high court again, as the Pune police had not taken cognizance of his complaint with regard to the same issue.

In his PIL, petitioner Nanasaheb Jadhav, an advocate and agriculturist, has stated that the Lavasa project which is the first private hill station sanctioned by the state government in 1994 was done under political influence. The petition stated that the government had not taken into consideration the impact it would have on the socio-economic status of the surrounding villages and had also violated environmental norms.

Jadhav had taken similar grounds in his earlier PIL which was disposed of in February 2022. The bench of then chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni had noted in its order, “The crux of the petitioner’s case, as can be gathered from the factual narrative above, is that the Pawars, by reason of their political standings, are very powerful and influential people, and it was the political clout and enormous influence exercised by the Pawars on the government machinery that led to development of the Lavasa Hill Station Project.”

Jadhav had alleged that though the Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Land Act, was amended in 2005, the clearance to the project was given in 2002 while Ajit Pawar was the minister for Irrigation and ex-officio chairman of the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation (MKVDC). Jadhav had alleged that Ajit Pawar was part of the meeting which granted clearance to the proposed dam that provided water supply to Lavasa project.

In light of this allegation the bench had noted in its order, “As the Minister for Irrigation and holder of a Constitutional office by virtue of which he was the Chairman of MKVDC, it was the solemn duty of Shri Ajit Pawar to disclose his direct or indirect interest in the matter.”

However, as the PIL was filed belatedly – ten years after the project had come into existence, the bench had declined to interfere. “We feel a judicial hands-off approach is perhaps best suited in the present case having regard to the intervening delay between alleged acts of violation of Constitutional guarantees and institution of this public interest litigation,” the court had said.

In the new PIL Jadhav has claimed that he had approached the Pune police to register an FIR as regards various violations done in the project. However, as the same was not heeded and no action was initiated due to the alleged influence of the Pawars, he was seeking a direction to the CBI to register an FIR in the case against the persons named in his complaint and also urged the court to monitor the probe by calling periodic reports from the central agency.

Though the PIL has been filed in July 2022, Jadhav will be mentioning it for hearing for the first time after the High Court’s winter break.