The Times of India: Nagpur: Saturday, June 16, 2012.
RTI activist Bhimrao Rathod of Darwha has in a complaint to the state director general of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the district income tax officer here alleged that deputy speaker of the state legislative assembly and sitting Congress MLA from Ralegaon Vasant Purke and his wife Premlata filed false affidavits and grabbed two flats in Bandra East in Mumbai under the discretionary quota of the government. Certified copies of all the related documents filed on affidavit by the couple under Right to Information Act, 2005 was obtained by Rathod and submitted to the authorities with the complaint.
Rathod has demanded a thorough and impartial probe and cancel the allotment of flats by registering criminal offences against the Purke couple for filing false affidavits. Rathod said Purke had filed an affidavit before the chief returning officer in 2004 along with his nomination form from Ralegaon reserved constituency, affirming that he owns movable and immovable property worth crores of rupees. He said he had agriculture land, fixed deposits in various banks and cooperative credit societies, shares and debentures, jewellery, two-wheelers and cars worth crores of rupees.
However, in an affidavit filed by Premlata on February 5, 2002 said the annual income of her family, including Vasant Purke, was Rs 1,37,500 and that her husband was an employee. She also said that they were landless and produced necessary documents. On the strength of these affidavits, she was allotted flat number 104 in the residential apartment of Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (Mhada) in Bandra East from the government's 5% discretionary quota.
The RTI information revealed that Purke had filed an affidavit in 2003-2004 putting his monthly income at only Rs 2,500 and got a flat in the Aashirwad Cooperative Housing Society in Mumbai. This was confirmed in a report of the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) published some months back.
"The application seeking a flat in Mhada apartment was submitted on October 29, 2001 which was recorded in the office of the deputy collector of BruhanMumbai (serial number 9528) on January 25, 2002," Rathod said. "The photo of Premlata Purke affixed with the application for the flat was attested by the under-secretary of the Maharashtra state legislative secretariat, Vidhan Bhavan, Mumbai," he said.
The allotment letter had clearly said that the flat in Bandra (E) admeasuring 566 square feet was allotted to Premlata solely on the basis of her affidavits and cautioned her of cancelling it, followed by criminal action, if the information given by the allottee was found to be wrong or false, Rathod said.
Besides a posh bungalow in Darda Nagar here, the Purke family has many educational institutions in Yavatmal district and rest of Vidarbha, Rathod claimed.
When contacted to get his version, Purke said, "I have no comment on it".
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