Civic body to appoint lawyer in TDR scam

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) standing committee on Friday approved a resolution to appoint a lawyer to present its case in the Bombay high court in the Kothrud Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) scam that happened in 2005.
Talking to mediapersons, standing committee chairman Nilesh Nikam said, "Earlier, the standing committee had decided to appoint a panel to seek an opinion of legal experts on the Kothrud TDR.Incidentally, the Bombay high court has issued a stay order on this decision. We have now decided to appoint a lawyer to present our stand in the HC."
The civic administration has sought permission from the standing committee to allow the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to book six PMC officials allegedly involved in the Kothrud TDR scam. According to a proposal tabled by the civic administration, the ACB submitted a report which stated that assistant engineer Deepak Bhalchandra Kulkarni, junior engineers Dattatray Bhanudas Tambare, Madhusudan Shrirang Yenkar and Chandrasen Tulshiram Nagtilak, legal advisor Ravindra Nivrutti Thorat and maintenance surveyor Sitaram Chintu Kadu had criminal intentions in the scam. The PMC has already suspended Kulkarni, Tambare, Yenkar and Thorat for their alleged involvement in the scam. The administration had sought the standing committee's permission for further action in the case.
"Before giving permission to prosecute a civic official, we need to understand the legalities of the matter. As the HC has given a stay for appointment of the expert panel, which was expected to guide us in the case, we have now decided to appoint a lawyer so that our stand should be properly presented before the HC," said Nikam.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Congress and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena members in the standing committee supported the resolution, the Shiv Sena opposed the same saying that a departmental inquiry should be conducted first.
It may be noted that the TDR case rocked the city in October 2005 and the PMC was allegedly duped to Rs 14 crore by two property owners and their agent, who had procured TDR for a land in Kothrud, which was already acquired and paid for by the PMC.