Indian Express: Mumbai: Thursday,
June 02, 2016.
The MIDC had
notified a total of 16.25 acres in Sector 52 of Bhosari in Pune district for
acquisition, of which it acquired 13.25 acres in 1971 for a compensation of Rs
6,000 per acre while leaving out the three-acre plot eventually bought by
Eknath Khadse in April this year, according to information obtained RTI Act by
The Indian Express.
MIDC
officials say a probe is needed to find out why the plot was not acquired
although it was earmarked for acquisition.
They said the
entire area was notified for acquisition under section 32 (1) of the
Maharashtra Industrial Development Act, 1961, and compensation disbursed for
13.25 acres to the owners, mainly the Landge family in Bhosari. This is duly
recorded in the letters exchanged between the MIDC and the Pune district
collectorate, procured through an RTI plea by The Indian Express.
“The question
of how this plot was left out will have to be probed as the entire tract of
land was notified under the MIDC Act in 1968. Nevertheless, the land still
belongs to the MIDC and any other transaction cannot be considered,” a senior
MIDC official said.
Once the
notification was issued under section 32 (1), the land became “vested with the
government for industrial use” and could not be sold without taking permission
from MIDC, the official said. “The transaction on the three-acre plot was done
in secrecy. Had we known about it, we would have opposed it.”
According to
the RTI information, the land was divided into five parts. While the
compensation process was completed for four of them, the process, though
delayed, was on for the last part (the three-acre plot) and so this too was
vested with the government.
“We have
given compensation for sector 52/1 A, 52/1 B, 52/2a, 52/2b and 52/2a/2 was to
be completed. Mutation documents clearly show MIDC’s name in the first four. In
the last one, MIDC’s name is mentioned in ‘other rights’, which clearly
indicates our rights on this land.”
“When one
Yashwant Walimbe attempted to buy the same plot in 2010 from its original owner
Rasul Ukani, we intervened and put our names in the record of rights as ‘other
rights’. In the present case, we were not informed,” the official said.
Meanwhile,
Pune-based builder Hemant Gavande, who is the whistle-blower in the case, has
said it is a case of conflict of interest since a minister who heads the
revenue department buys government land knowing well that the land is up for
acquisition.
Khadse, when
contacted, said he had put up all the documents on his Facebook page and
alleged the builder was trying to get back at him as he had a case against him
for forging land documents and fraudulent transactions worth Rs 417 crore
relating to land belonging to an agriculture college.
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