NEW DELHI: Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday distanced himself from the Pune land deal controversy involving a company linked to his son Parth Pawar, saying he has "no connection" with the issue and "won’t tolerate any wrongdoing."
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Pawar said, "I am not even remotely connected to this (land deal). I only want to say that whatever reports are being run are not known to me. I have no connection with the issue. I had already clarified that I will not tolerate any wrongdoing. I will analyse the details of the case personally. I have never called any officer to benefit any of our relatives or any party worker."
He further said that, "If anyone is doing wrong or against the set norms, I will never support them. I wish to make clear to officers that I won’t support any wrong actions by anyone citing my name to get their work done."
"When your children grow up, they do their own business," the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president added.
The state government has formed an inquiry committee to probe the alleged irregularities in the Rs 300 crore land deal involving Amadea Enterprises, a company linked to Parth Pawar.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has appointed Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Vikas Kharge to head the probe panel. The government also suspended a tehsildar and a sub-registrar in connection with the case after the Opposition claimed that land worth Rs 1,800 crore was sold to the firm for just Rs 300 crore.
Fadnavis, earlier speaking to reporters in Nagpur, said, "Prime facie, the issue looks serious. I've sought all information concerning the case from the relevant departments. Orders have been given to conduct a probe."
"The CM should definitely inquire into the matter and find the truth behind it. All the rules should be followed, and no one should flout the rules. Even those close to me are not allowed to surpass the rules," Pawar said.
What is the Pune land deal controversy?According to officials, 40 acres of government-owned Mahar watan land in Pune’s upscale Mundhwa area were sold to a private firm, Amadea Enterprises LLP, for Rs 300 crore, a deal now under scrutiny for alleged "irregularities". Officials noted that as the land is government property, it cannot legally be sold to a private entity.
According to PTI, Inspector General of Registration Ravindra Binwade said the high-level committee will examine how the transaction was cleared. "The committee will find out how government land was sold to a private firm and whether the exemption was given as per norms," Binwade said.
"The documents submitted to claim the exemption will be checked. The committee will see what sort of documents were produced during registration. But as an immediate action, we have suspended a sub-registrar-rank official. If it is government land, the registration should not have taken place," he added.
Sources in the revenue department said the 7/12 extract, a key property record, lists the land in the name of ‘Mumbai Sarkar’ (Government of Maharashtra). Besides Parth Pawar, Digvijay Patil, in whose name the registration was done, is also listed as a co-partner in Amadea Enterprises.
According to the IGR office order, the sub-registrar (Taru) should have ensured that a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the competent authority was attached before registering the property. In this case, the registration was done without an NOC, resulting in "serious irregularities."
The order further noted that the document was registered for just Rs 500, availing the stamp duty exemption. While some exemptions may apply, the order said a 2% levy—comprising 1% local body cess and 1% metro cess, amounting to about Rs 6 crore—"cannot be waived," leading to a loss to the state exchequer.
Ajit Pawar has reiterated that he is "not remotely connected" to the land transaction, while Parth Pawar, who shares partnership in Amadea Enterprises with Digvijay Patil, has not yet commented on the allegations.
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