Coming to the rescue of Yogesh Mhase, officer on special duty (OSD) to Home Minister RR Patil, the Thane Commissioner of Police (CP) SPS Yadav has said that several senior officials had scrutinised files and found that there was no material against Mhase.
Yadav had filed affidavit in reply to a PIL filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Madhav Bhandari, alleging that Mhase and few other government officials were not arrested in a case of alleged fabrication of documents under the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCA), 1976.
Turning the tables on the then investigating officer, Avinash Mokashi, who was with the CID and is now posted at Badlapur police station, Yadav has alleged in his affidavit that Mokashi was not entitled to investigate the cases. As per the CID manual, the investigating officer is entitled to only conduct an enquiry.
If Mokashi was interested in arresting the accused, then he would have done so, but he was only interested in covering up his irregularities. Hence, he created reports and wrote letters, which is usually not the practice of the CID, added Yadav’s affidavit.
About his meeting with Patil on September 24, 2007, Yadav’s affidavit states, “I specifically and categorically deny that Shri RR Patil asked me to maintain a status quo in the case. On the contrary, he assured me that the necessary permission to investigate the case would be given if at all the aforesaid ULCA cases were investigated without permission.”
{{/usCountry}}About his meeting with Patil on September 24, 2007, Yadav’s affidavit states, “I specifically and categorically deny that Shri RR Patil asked me to maintain a status quo in the case. On the contrary, he assured me that the necessary permission to investigate the case would be given if at all the aforesaid ULCA cases were investigated without permission.”
{{/usCountry}}The scam relates to use of fabricated certificates under ULCA in obtaining permissions for its non-agriculture use and construction. The scam came to light in 2005 when the Deputy Collector's office in Pune received a fabricated certificate under ULCA, declaring a piece of land in Wakad, near Pune, as non surplus.
When authorities started probe, they found out that in 29 cases, sanctions for construction had been obtained on the basis of fake non-surplus certificates. In a case filed with Pune’s Pimpri police station, Mhase’s name figures, as he, as a deputy collector, gave permission for non-agriculture use of land on the basis of allegedly fake ULCA clearance certificate.