Pune land deal: Report indicts government official, two others; Parth Pawar not mentioned

Pune: A committee headed by a Joint Inspector General of Registration (IGR) in its report into a controversial Rs 300 crore land deal of a company owned by Parth Pawar has indicted the three people named in the related police FIR, an official said.

The report of the three-member panel, submitted on Tuesday, however did not mention Parth Pawar himself as his name did not appear on any document, the senior official told PTI.

Joint IGR Rajendra Muthe, who headed the committee, submitted the report to IGR Ravindra Binwade and the latter forwarded it to Divisional Commissioner Chandrakant Pulkundwar.

The sale of 40 acres of land in Pune's upscale Mundhwa area to Amadea Enterprises LLP, in which Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's son Parth is a partner, came under the scanner after it came to light that the land belongs to the government and could not be sold, and the firm was exempted from the payment of stamp duty of Rs 21 crore.

"Since Parth Pawar's name does not come on record in the entire sale deed, he can not be indicted in the probe. The report, however, indicted all those who are directly involved in the deal including suspended government official (sub-registrar) Ravindra Taru," said the official.

The other two named in the report were Digvijay Patil (Parth Pawar's business partner and cousin) and Sheetal Tejwani (who held the power of attorney on behalf of the sellers of the land). Taru, Patil, and Tejwani are already named as accused in a First Information Report registered by Pune Police.

The inquiry committees of the revenue department and settlement commissioner will also submit their respective reports, and all three reports will be then forwarded to additional chief secretary Vikas Kharge who is heading a six-member committee constituted by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to probe the land deal, the official said.

The Muthe committee report also recommended measures to prevent such fraudulent deals in the future, he said.

Meanwhile, IGR's office has given seven days to Amadea Enterprises LLP to submit its say on the notice to pay Rs 42 crore as stamp duty upon the cancellation of the Mundhwa land deal.

"The firm wanted 15 days, but we have given them seven days to reply to the notice," said an IGR official.