Second FIR filed against Parth’s business partner hours before land deal scrapped

District collector Jitendra Dudi said the complaint followed a preliminary probe into the illegal transfer of government-owned land

Hours before deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar announced on Friday evening that his son Parth Pawar had scrapped the controversial ₹300-crore Mundhwa land deal, the Pune police registered a second first information report (FIR) in the case. It names Parth’s business partner and others for alleged forgery, cheating, and illegal land transfer.

The land deal under scrutiny involved around 40 acres in Mundhwa, valued at over ₹300 crore, which was sold to Amadea Enterprises LLP — a firm in which Parth Pawar holds 99% stake and his cousin Digvijay Patil 1%. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

The fresh case, filed at Khadak Police Station on Friday morning, named Digvijay Patil, who jointly owns Amadea Enterprises LLP with Parth, along with power of attorney holder Shital Tejwani and suspended tehsildar Suryakant Yewale. The complaint, lodged by a naib tehsildar, has been transferred to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

District collector Jitendra Dudi said the complaint followed a preliminary probe into the illegal transfer of government-owned land. “On Thursday, the Inspector General of Registration’s office filed an FIR at Bavdhan Police Station against Patil, Tejwani, and sub-registrar RB Taru. Another offence was registered today against Yewale, Patil, and Tejwani. The suspended tehsildar’s role in facilitating the transfer of government land has come to light,” Dudi said.

According to the FIR, Yewale misused his position to issue eviction notices to the existing occupants of the Mundhwa plot to enable private takeover. It also mentions his alleged involvement in another land case in Bopodi, where he declared five private individuals as owners of a plot belonging to the agriculture department.

The land deal under scrutiny involved around 40 acres in Mundhwa, valued at over ₹300 crore, which was sold to Amadea Enterprises LLP — a firm in which Parth Pawar holds 99% stake and his cousin Digvijay Patil 1%. The registration was carried out by Tejwani, who held power of attorney for 272 individuals shown as landowners. Officials have alleged that the sale violated ownership restrictions on government land and that stamp duty was illegally waived.

By Friday evening, amid mounting political criticism, Ajit said his son had decided to cancel the transaction and submit affidavits to that effect. “Parth and his business partner were not aware that the land belonged to the government. The registration has been cancelled, and no payment has been made,” the deputy CM said after meeting chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai.

He said the government had appointed a committee led by additional chief secretary Vikas Kharge to probe the matter and submit a report within a month. “The land in question is government land which cannot be sold. How the registration took place and who is responsible will become clear after the probe,” Pawar said.

Ajit clarified that Parth’s name does not appear in the FIR because only those who signed the registration papers were booked. “From the information available, this was merely an agreement to buy land. No possession was taken, and no money was exchanged,” he said, adding that neither he nor his office played any role in the deal.

Quoting his son, Ajit added, “Parth has said the proposed deal was within the ambit of the law, but in public life, even the slightest doubt of wrongdoing must be avoided. Since questions have been raised, he has decided to cancel the transaction, and the required documents have already been submitted to the registering authority.”