CM promises probe in Pune land scam

Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan assured the Legislative Assembly on Friday that he would probe irregularities, if any, in allotment of the 326-acre land in Yerwada, Pune, to companies owned by member of parliament Supriya Sule, husband Sadanand, and 2G scam accused Shahid Balwa. HT reports.

Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan assured the Legislative Assembly on Friday that he would probe irregularities, if any, in allotment of the 326-acre land in Yerwada, Pune, to companies owned by member of parliament Supriya Sule, husband Sadanand, and 2G scam accused Shahid Balwa.

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Stepping up the attack against Sule’s father, Union agriculture minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Opposition leader in the Assembly Eknath Khadse alleged that the land scam had been perpetuated due to political patronage.

NCP legislator Jitendra Awhad, however, came to the defence of his party chief. “It has become a habit to slam Pawar and his family for political reasons. The land in question is owned by a private party,” he said.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan assured the Legislative Assembly on Friday that he would probe irregularities, if any, in the allotment of 326 acres in Yerawada, Pune, to companies owned by member of parliament Supriya Sule, husband Sadanand, and 2G scam accused Shahid Balwa.

Stepping up attack against Sule’s father, union agriculture minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Opposition leader in the assembly Eknath Khadse alleged that the land scam had been perpetuated due to political patronage.

Chavan said he would seek the documents that Khadse had produced in the house to prove the charges against the NCP leaders and former bureaucrat-turned-politician Shriniwas Patil.

Patil, a former collector of Pune, allegedly forged documents to settle the matter with Mukund Bhavan Trust that claimed to have owned the land.

Khadse claimed that though the government owned the land, it vacated its ownership. “Patil forged documents in 1989 to approve Mukund Bhavan Trust’s claim on 326 acres. The government had, in 1951, approved the ownership claim of 3.26 acres,” he said.

“It is apparent that the big leaders supported the irregular transfer that is worth over Rs15,000 crore. The reservation of the land from non-residential to residential was changed around four years ago,” he added.

NCP legislator Jitendra Awhad claimed there were no irregularities in the land transfer. “It has become a habit to slam Pawar and his family for political reasons. The land in question is owned by the private party," he said.

Chavan also assured that he would also look into the corruption charges against former Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party legislator Raj Purohit.

BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis claimed that Purohit did not issue any order in the Pune land case and some officers had forged a letter.