Pune land deal: Sub-registrar accused of enabling major state revenue fraud
A Pune official was arrested for his role in a land fraud, registering a ₹300 crore deed with just ₹500 stamp duty, causing ₹21 crore loss to the state.
A government official tasked with preventing stamp duty loss is now at the centre of one of Pune’s most serious land registration frauds. Haveli-4 sub-registrar Ravindra Balkrushna Taru, 58, on Monday was remanded to eight days’ police custody by the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC), Paud, for his alleged role in the Mundhwa land registration fraud. Taru was arrested by the Bavdhan police Sunday evening for allegedly allowing a land deed valued at ₹300 crore to be registered with a stamp duty payment of just ₹500, causing an estimated ₹21 crore loss to the state exchequer. The land was purchased by Amadea Enterprises, a firm linked to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s son, Parth Pawar.
Bavdhan police inspector Anil Vibhute, who is investigating the case, had sought a 10-day remand, calling the fraud ‘serious and peculiar’.
Vibhute told the court that Taru, acting in collusion with wanted accused Sheetal Tejwani and Digvijay Patil, registered deed number 1018/2025 on May 20 without conducting basic ownership checks—even though the 7/12 extract clearly showed the land as belonging to the Mumbai Government.
According to the remand report, Taru bypassed mandatory procedures, including verifying the eligibility certificate from the District Industries Centre (DIC) required for stamp duty exemption, and accepted a power of attorney submitted by Tejwani, who had no legal authority to sell the government land.
Vibhute further submitted that Taru misused the I-Sarita online registration system of the revenue department by using its ‘skip’ option to override the government ownership entry and push the fraudulent registration through with a nominal stamp duty of ₹500. The police are probing who instructed or facilitated this deliberate bypassing of official records.
The land parcel—survey number 88, shares 1 to 26, measuring 1/40 acre in Mundhwa—was registered at this nominal rate despite its actual commercial value. The police remand application notes that investigators are examining which government order, if any, was invoked to justify such a registration.
The remand application submitted by the Bavdhan police lists 18 crucial documents collected as evidence of the alleged stamp duty evasion and fraudulent registration. These include certified and original copies of the sale deed, the day book/token register, list number 2 of registered documents, and registration fee receipts. Also attached were document handling charge receipts, a sample application filed under section 33 of the Maharashtra Stamp Act for adjudication, and a letter of authority issued to the collector of stamps and joint district registrar by advocate Vishnu Pise.
Further evidence includes a computerised award fee invoice and an affidavit filed by Digvijay Amarsinh Patil for the award application, the online application uploaded by Amadea Enterprises, and the draft and final purchase deed (18 pages). Investigators have also attached the 7/12 extract relevant to the award process, a letter of intent from the District Job Centre, the Government Gazette dated February 1, 2014, the Maharashtra IT Policy 2013 dated June 27, 2023, and an evaluation report by the assistant town planner dated May 8, 2025. A notice issued to other media companies under section 25(b)(1) of the Maharashtra Numbering Act, 1958 (dated May 1, 2015) is also part of the bundle.
Together, these documents form the backbone of the police case, indicating a deliberate attempt by the accused to subvert legal procedures and misuse official authority for personal or financial gain, thereby justifying custodial interrogation.
Taru is the second person to have been arrested in the Mundhwa land case, in which the police last week arrested Sheetal Tejwani. Taru had registered the disputed deed between Tejwani and Patil—a transaction now under examination for valuation manipulation and illegal stamp duty waiver.
The FIR, registered on November 6 by Santosh Hingane, joint deputy registrar (class 1) and stamp duty collector, alleges that Taru, Tejwani and Patil colluded to execute a sale deed on May 20, 2025, for nearly 40 acres of prime government land in Mundhwa, valued at over ₹2,000 crore, while granting an illegal stamp duty concession that deprived the state of roughly ₹6 crore.
