Speakers unhappy with govt response

Speaker of the state assembly Dilip Walse-Patil ticked off the state government on Monday by expressing his dissatisfaction with the government’s response about the sale of land near the army’s ordnance factory in Kandivili for just Rs6 crore.

Speaker of the state assembly Dilip Walse-Patil ticked off the state government on Monday by expressing his dissatisfaction with the government’s response about the sale of land near the army’s ordnance factory in Kandivili for just Rs6 crore.

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Walse-Patil has kept the question reserved for further discussion and has asked the state government to be better prepared. “The house is not satisfied with the replies given by the state. There is ambiguity in the response. As such, I will reserve this question for further discussion,” he said.

Nationalist Congress Party legislator Shashikant Shinde, who raised the question, claimed that the deal cost the government huge losses as the land was sold at a fraction of the market value. Shinde and others demanded a probe into the entire deal.

The one-acre plot adjoining the Central Ordnance Depot belonged to the state government but was allegedly leased out to the army. It was sold off to a private pharmaceutical firm, Neo Pharma, in 2007.

Not happy with the government’s response, Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Yogesh Sagar said the state had ignored the army’s initial objection that the sale would compromise security.