<p>Mumbai: A government-appointed committee that probed the sensational Mahar Watan land case in Pune held that the notarised power of attorney (PoA) executed in favour of NCP MP Parth Pawar for government land was illegal and incorrect, but did not fix any responsibility. However, it indicted his cousin Digvijay Patil.</p>.<p>Parth, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha, is the elder son of the late Ajit Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Sunetra Pawar. </p>.<p>Digvijay Patil is the son of the late Amarsinh Patil, the Sarpanch of Ter village in the Dharashiv district, and the brother of Sunetra Pawar. </p>.<p>After the land scam surfaced last year, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis appointed a committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Vikas Kharge to probe it. </p>.<p>Around 40 acres of Mahar Watan land — located in Mundhwa off the prime Koregaon Park area — belonging to the government was sold for Rs 300 crore to Amadea Enterprises LLP, in which Parth Pawar and Digvijay Patil are partners. The stamp duty on it was waived.</p>.<p>The land's commercial value was reportedly as high as Rs 1,800 crore. </p>.<p>The "Watan" category land, reserved for the Mahar community, is protected under the Bombay Inferior Village Watans Abolition Act, 1958, and cannot be sold.</p>.<p>The company acquired this prime piece of reserved government land — which the state government had leased to the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) — to develop an IT park and data centre. However, the plan was scrapped after the scam surfaced. </p>.<p>The Kharge committee report was tabled in the Maharashtra legislature on Wednesday evening. The panel refrained from commenting on the criminal liability in the case, stating it was outside its purview.</p>.<p>However, it noted that the then sub-registrar, Ravindra Taru, was liable for criminal action, while Shital Tejwani, the PoA-holder of Ashok Gaikwad and 271 others, repeatedly filed illegal applications.</p>.<p>The panel held the registration of the sale document at Haveli to be illegal and said no stamp duty concession was justified.</p>.<p>According to the report, officials — including Taru and former tehsildar Suryakant Yewale — had already been suspended, while police cases had been registered against Tejwani, Patil, and others involved in the transaction.</p>
<p>Mumbai: A government-appointed committee that probed the sensational Mahar Watan land case in Pune held that the notarised power of attorney (PoA) executed in favour of NCP MP Parth Pawar for government land was illegal and incorrect, but did not fix any responsibility. However, it indicted his cousin Digvijay Patil.</p>.<p>Parth, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha, is the elder son of the late Ajit Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Sunetra Pawar. </p>.<p>Digvijay Patil is the son of the late Amarsinh Patil, the Sarpanch of Ter village in the Dharashiv district, and the brother of Sunetra Pawar. </p>.<p>After the land scam surfaced last year, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis appointed a committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Vikas Kharge to probe it. </p>.<p>Around 40 acres of Mahar Watan land — located in Mundhwa off the prime Koregaon Park area — belonging to the government was sold for Rs 300 crore to Amadea Enterprises LLP, in which Parth Pawar and Digvijay Patil are partners. The stamp duty on it was waived.</p>.<p>The land's commercial value was reportedly as high as Rs 1,800 crore. </p>.<p>The "Watan" category land, reserved for the Mahar community, is protected under the Bombay Inferior Village Watans Abolition Act, 1958, and cannot be sold.</p>.<p>The company acquired this prime piece of reserved government land — which the state government had leased to the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) — to develop an IT park and data centre. However, the plan was scrapped after the scam surfaced. </p>.<p>The Kharge committee report was tabled in the Maharashtra legislature on Wednesday evening. The panel refrained from commenting on the criminal liability in the case, stating it was outside its purview.</p>.<p>However, it noted that the then sub-registrar, Ravindra Taru, was liable for criminal action, while Shital Tejwani, the PoA-holder of Ashok Gaikwad and 271 others, repeatedly filed illegal applications.</p>.<p>The panel held the registration of the sale document at Haveli to be illegal and said no stamp duty concession was justified.</p>.<p>According to the report, officials — including Taru and former tehsildar Suryakant Yewale — had already been suspended, while police cases had been registered against Tejwani, Patil, and others involved in the transaction.</p>