Mumbai Mirror: Mumbai: Tuesday,
May 17, 2016.
The Bombay
High Court has sought to know from the state government if it has taken action
proposed by itself to check whether various trusts and NGOs that have been
allotted land parcels are adhering to the conditions laid down for the same.
Adivision
bench of Justice A S Oka and Justice PD Naik has set a deadline of June 8 for
the government observing "default will have to be viewed very seriously
considering the fact that valuable public properties are involved".
The court was
hearing a public interest litigation filed advocate Sanjiv Punalekar,
contending that parties that have received government land for certain specific
purpose at heavily concessional rates should be accountable under the Right to
Information Act, 2005.
The court
order observes that a Government Resolution of March 2012 provides for setting
up of a vigilance squad by the Divisional Commissioner to "look into the
unauthorised use of the government lands and breaches of the terms and
conditions committed by various parties to whom the government lands are
allotted." Maharashtra has six such DC's in the state and Mumbai city
falls under the Konkan division.
"Clause
(a) records that time bound schedule shall be fixed for the squads to complete
the inspection of the government lands and it also provides that monthly review
on the basis of the reports of the squads shall be taken in the meeting of the
Divisional Commissioners and District Collectors," the order reads quoting
the specific provision.
The court then
observed, "In case of grant of State Government properties the State
Government has to be vigilant if there are breaches committed. The State
Government has to take action in accordance with law including the action of
forfeiture and cancellation of allotment." The order further says that the
government hasn't produced any document to show that the vigilance squads have
been formed at all.
Another GR,
issued in 2012 itself, says that information regarding such allotments was to
be put up on a dedicated website called "mahaonline,' but even this
doesn't seem to have materialised.
The PIL says
that till 2012, over 3,000 institutions had been allotted land for educational
purposes since 1975. It then quotes a 2012 report by the Comptroller and
Auditor General which criticised the state government for allotting land to
trusts controlled by ministers and other politicians at extremely concessional
prices.
The PIL
further argues, "Without going into the ethics of allotting lands to
trusts connected with politicians, wide publicity about information these
allotments would enlighten the electorate. When citizens approach such bodies
under RTI Act, there is likelihood that the fight against corruption would
intensify and there would be initiative for people's participation in acting as
a check against corruption instead of completely depending on statutory bodies
like CAG."
It also cites
examples of various high profile charitable hospitals not fulfilling their duty
of treating the needy free or at concessional rates and high profile education
institutes indulging in "selling" the seats. The PIL points out all
these bodies were allotted lands at concessional rates with a specific purpose
that they served the society in some way, but that is not being followed.
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