Interview/ Vijay Kumbhar, activist
The Pune land scam case involving Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar took a turn recently with the Bombay High Court criticising the police’s handling of the probe. Parth’s Amadea Enterprises allegedly bought 40 acres of government land for 300 crore. Despite holding a 99 per cent stake in the company, he has not been named in the FIR. While hearing the bail plea of accused Sheetal Tejwani, Justice Madhav Jamdar questioned whether the police were shielding Parth.
Ajit Pawar recently stated that revenue officials should have refused to register the deal. When asked if a new bill passed by the legislature on December 12 was intended to protect his son, Pawar defended his right as an elected representative to amend laws for the public. The bill allows the revenue minister to hear controversial cases relating to the Office of the Inspector General of Registration (IGR). Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the change enables dissatisfied parties to approach the minister instead of the High Court.
Meanwhile, the opposition claims Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has given a clean-chit to Parth. Senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said the ruling party did not respond when the issue was raised in the legislature and added they would continue to question it.
Senior activist Vijay Kumbhar from Pune helped bring the scam to light. Kumbhar had previously exposed former chief minister Manohar Joshi for his favours to his son-in-law—a Pune-based builder—forcing him to step down.
He told THE WEEK that these days one cannot expect politicians to step down after being exposed for corruption. He added that the builder-politician nexus had become a partnership. He also said land scams in and around Pune involved Rs10,000 crore. Edited excerpts from an interview:
Q/ You have written to the chief minister about land scams in Pune. Could you tell us about it?
I informed the chief minister that a massive land scam worth thousands of crores has taken place... where government land was illegally transferred into private hands. In my letter, I highlighted the following:
The land was leased to the Botanical Survey of India (BSI). But, private individuals, in collusion with revenue officials, fraudulently attempted to show ownership.
One private individual, Sheetal Tejwani, deposited just Rs11,000 as “land ownership value”, even though no government order existed, no approval was granted and the transaction itself was completely illegal.
Despite this, a sale deed was registered without ownership documents, market value, stamp duty or a valid power of attorney. This clearly shows deliberate manipulation of the system.
I specifically mentioned that revenue officials, including Tehsildar Suryakant Yewale, enabled the illegal transfer. Yewale already has a criminal case in [another] land scam and his record shows a consistent pattern of misusing government land.
I also told the chief minister that officers who have now been appointed to investigate this scam are the same officials who processed and approved the illegal transactions, making the inquiry completely biased and compromised.
I brought to his attention that a private company, Amadea Enterprises LLP, along with certain individuals, attempted to take possession. It even wrote to authorities claiming that BSI must vacate the government land—a shocking and illegal demand.
Documents they submitted include forged or illegally notarised papers, and the land—being agricultural—cannot legally be purchased by a company. Yet, the officials facilitated the transaction.
I urged the chief minister to take immediate and strong action, including cancelling all illegal transactions, filing criminal cases against all involved, removing conflicted officials from the inquiry, ordering an independent judicial or revenue investigation, suspending and initiating departmental action against the responsible officers, and investigating whether these parties have grabbed other government land in Pune.
I clearly stated that this... is a planned and systematic loot of government property. I warned that unless a fair, independent investigation is conducted, this will severely damage public trust in the government’s integrity.
Q/ Do you think Parth Pawar will be arrested like Tejwani?
The chances are low. Even if an arrest has to be made, it will only happen when the situation is completely “safe” and convenient for him—so that he can be released immediately. Under current circumstances, no one will dare to arrest him.
Q/ What is the worth of the land scams in Pune that you have highlighted?
More than Rs10,000 crore.
Q/ Do you feel that the role of the Pune collector should be investigated?
Yes. His role was important. He is the custodian of all the district’s land. He ignored the early warnings about the fraud being committed, and therefore his actions—and inaction—must be investigated.
Q/ How do you look at Ajit Pawar’s role?
Ajit Pawar has claimed no rupee has exchanged hands in this deal. He is the finance minister. He is supposed to take action if the state loses even a single rupee because of corrupt practices. But he is saying that no transaction has taken place and is trying to shield his son Parth.
Revenue Minister [Chandrashekhar] Bawankule, on the other hand, is saying the state has lost revenue as stamp duty of Rs21 crore was not paid. I feel he is equally responsible. Both IGR and revenue are his departments. Senior revenue officers claimed they did not know of the deal. Letter to the collector was given on December 21, 2024. If your officers are not informing you, what is the use of power; you should resign immediately.
Also, the tehsildar who registered the FIR wrote that [Yewale] habitually gives away government land to private persons. Bawankule should find out all scams that Yewale has committed. So Bawankule has a bigger responsibility. All this is so shocking—the entire government machinery is involved in this.
If you follow the trail in any of these scams, the search will lead you to some or other politician. All this is effectively planned. This is a big racket. Now there is another waqf property scam in which Tejwani’s name comes up once again. She has taken power of attorney in many places. Her husband Sagar Suryawanshi is an accused in the Seva cooperative scam. What I came to know was, when this deal with Amadea was happening, Parth Pawar was present.
Q/ You say you have now exposed another scam. What exactly is it?
It involves BJP ex-MP Sanjay Kakade, who is a big builder. The government had taken land for the National Defence Academy from farmers. Their rehabilitation was not done properly. So Kakade’s brother Suryakant took up the cause and got a land parcel of 38 acres for rehabilitation. The condition was that the land would belong to the government and it was to be developed only. Seven acres of the land was given to the Pune Municipal Corporation; nine was no-development zone. From the remaining land, it was decided that 13 acres would be used for development and rehabilitation. So the villagers gave Suryakant a power of attorney. But, without the knowledge of the villagers, he obtained power of attorney for the entire remaining land. Then some land was sold to his family-run Kakade mall when there was no permission to sell or transfer the land. Villagers went to court, the court ordered an FIR against Suryakant. The police said it was an administrative mistake. So the villagers have again gone to court.