Give details in Pune’s ULC scam cases: HC to state
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Friday told the Maharashtra government that it had filed an incomplete report with regard to the probe into the multi-crore Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) scam cases of Pune and told the state to submit more details by October 28.
Perusing a report filed in a sealed cover by the then additional director general, CID, and now police commissioner of Thane, Shiv Pratap Singh Yadav, a bench headed by justice B H Marlapalle said it was incomplete and sought more details.
On the last occasion, the state had submitted a report on the “conduct” of investigation officer Avinash Mokashi who had alleged involvement of officer on special duty in the office of home minister R R Patil.
The PIL filed by Madhav Bhandari, a BJP spokesperson, alleged that though the investigating officer Avinash Mokashi (then with CID) wanted to arrest Mhase and a few others, Patil had stayed’ it.
However, S P S Yadav, said in an affidavit that Patil did not stop the arrest.
Investigating officer Mokashi had no powers to arrest anyone in 2007, because CID was merely conducting an “inquiry” and not an investigation, Yadav’s affidavit contended.
Mokashi had earlier alleged that Patil stayed Mhase’s arrest in a meeting with Yadav and others on September 26, 2007, but Yadav denied this and said that Mokashi had become “hostile” towards CID because he was later shunted out.
The scam relates to use of fabricated certificates under Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA) in obtaining permission for non-agriculture use and construction.
The scam came to light in 2005 when the deputy collector’s office in Pune received a fabricated certificate under ULCA, declaring a piece of land in Wakad, near Pune, as non-surplus.
Under ULCA (now repealed), an individual can hold only 500 sq mt of land in an urban area. Rest of the land is declared surplus, but it can be regularised if owner surrenders five per cent of total land to government. A certificate declaring land to be non-surplus’ is then issued.
When authorities started probe, they found out that in 29 cases, sanctions for construction had been obtained on the basis of fake non-surplus certificates.
In a case filed with Pune’ Pimpri police station, Mhase’s name figured, as he, as a deputy collector, purportedly gave permission for non-agriculture use of land on the basis of allegedly fake ULCA clearance certificate. According to the petition, the government had lost revenue of over Rs 300 crore in Pune district because of such fake ULCA certificates.
The state criminal investigation department on Wednesday night arrested three builders in connection with the urban land ceiling (ULC) certificate scam.
CID inspector Shrikant Kshirsagar said that Harish Pralhad Arora (60) of Koregaon Park, Aslam Abdulla Haji (54) of Wanowrie and Moiz Mansur Poonawala (33) of Gultekdi had purchased the plot of Murlidhar Murkute at Wadgaon Budruck on Sinhagad Road and in 2003 had decided to develop the property. Investigations have revealed that they had applied for building permission with the Pune Municipal Corporation on the basis of a forged ULC order.
The suspects will be produced before a magisterial court for seeking police custody, Kshirsagar added.
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