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Pune land deal scam: Sub-registrar to blame for registering sale deed: Ajit Pawar
Parth, Ajit Pawar’s son, has been embroiled in a controversy regarding the purchase of government land for his company, Amadea Enterprises, for ₹300 crore, a price far less than its reported market value of ₹1,800 crore
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday shifted the blame for the alleged Mundhwa land scam squarely to the sub-registrar who registered the sale deed while staunchly defending his son Parth Pawar. Parth has been embroiled in a controversy regarding the purchase of government land for his company, Amadea Enterprises, for ₹300 crore, a price far less than its reported market value of ₹1,800 crore. Opposition leaders also pointed out that the 40-acre plot was Mahar Wattan land which could not be sold to a private party.
Amadea Enterprises, jointly owned by Parth and his cousin Digvijay Patil, executed the sale agreement on May 20 with Shital Tejwani, a Pune resident who is the power-of-attorney holder for 272 individuals to whom the government land had been transferred. The firm paid just ₹500 as stamp duty after seeking an exemption of ₹21 crore, citing plans to set up a data centre on the site.
Ajit on Sunday maintained that the individual in the sub-registrar’s office should be held accountable. “How did he register the deed?” he asked. “What prompted him to do a wrong job? We will find this out through a probe.” When asked why Parth had not come forward to clarify his stand, Ajit said, “His father has put forth his stand. I have clarified everything about this case.”
Based on a complaint by the office of the Inspector General of Registration (IGR), the Pimpri-Chinchwad police registered an FIR against Digvijay Patil, Shital Tejwani and sub-registrar R B Taru for alleged misappropriation and cheating. Taru, who registered the document, has been suspended by the IGR and booked at Bavdhan police station for alleged misappropriation and cheating. Parth Pawar is not named in the FIR.
Ajit reiterated that the sale deed of the 40-acre government land should not have been executed. “The actual transaction did not take place,” he had said earlier on Saturday. “The sale deed should not have been executed—I don’t know how it was done. Whoever is involved, a proper probe must be conducted.”
The deputy CM maintained that the truth would emerge from the inquiry ordered by the state government. “(Irrespective of) whoever is involved, a proper investigation must be conducted in the Mundhwa land deal,” he said. “Allegations were made against me in the past too, but nothing was proved though I was severely slandered. Now, after the chief minister ordered an inquiry, two FIRs have been registered and the registrar’s office is investigating.”
Ajit admitted that no due diligence or legal scrutiny had been conducted before executing the sale agreement. He said the probe would determine whether any government officials were pressured during the process. Maintaining that no money had changed hands, he said the deal had already been cancelled. “The IGR is looking into the case and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has taken a strict stand on the issue,” he said.
Ajit dismissed the allegations as “politically motivated”. “Whenever elections approach, accusations against us begin,” he said. “This is nothing new. In 2008-09, an allegation of a ₹70,000-crore scam was made against me, but after 15 to 16 years, no one has produced any evidence. Nothing came of it, but our image got damaged.”
The deputy CM claimed that transparency had always guided his political career. “Even if my close associates or relatives make any request using my name, officers must act only within the framework of the law,” he said. “I have always appealed to officials to strictly follow the rules.”
