Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday ordered a probe into the allegations of irregularities in a Pune land deal involving Parth Pawar, son of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
“I have sought all the information. A probe has also been ordered…will bring out the truth in this matter,” said Fadnavis as the state government suspended a sub-registrar and constituted a three-member committee to probe the deal.
The sub-registrar’s office allegedly waived the stamp duty of ₹21 crore for the registration of a 40-acre land sale in Mundhwa worth ₹300 crore to Amedea Enterprises LLP, with Parth Pawar as a partner, in May. The land is adjacent to Pune’s upmarket Koregaon Park area.
Revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankuke said the committee will check if the exemption in stamp duty was given as per the law. “There is a specific law about Mahar Watan land and an exemption in stamp duty for specific purposes.”
Bawankule said he has ordered the probe committee to see if provisions of law related to the Mahar Watan land have been followed. Mahar Watan refers to hereditary land grants to the Mahar community.
Registration and controller of stamps inspector general Ravindra Binwade said the three-member panel will submit its report within 10 days. “The committee will probe the circumstances under which the stamp duty was waived and what documents were submitted,” said Binwade. He added that the joint inspector general of registration will head the committee.
Parth Pawar did not respond to repeated attempts to reach out to him for his comments. According to the documents HT has reviewed, the address of Amedea Enterprises and that of Parth Pawar’s residence in Pune’s Yawant Nagar were the same. The land registration documents showed the buyer’s name as Amedea Enterprises. Digvijay Amarsinh Patil, the other partner in the company, signed the documents.
