Land deal: Danve seeks Ajit Pawar's resignation, Parth's arrest; police custody for Tejwani

Mumbai, Dec 4 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve on Thursday demanded the resignation of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and the arrest of his son Parth over the controversial Pune land deal.

He said the Opposition will raise the matter in the state legislature’s Winter Session beginning on December 8.

His demand came a day after police arrested Shital Tejwani, an accused in the case linked to the sale of 40 acres of government land in Pune's upscale Mundhwa area to a company owned by Parth.

Talking to reporters here, Danve said the directors of Amadea Enterprises LLP should also be arrested. Parth Pawar is a partner in Amadea along with Digvijay Patil.

“Parth Pawar and Digvijay Patil, too, should be arrested in the case. If the person who sold the land is an accused, then the one who purchased it is also an accused,” Danve said.

The Sena (UBT) leader said there is no clarity about the officials who waived the stamp duty on the land deal.

“Stamp duty waiver cannot happen without political pressure. Ajit Pawar must resign over the matter. The Opposition will press for his sacking in the upcoming winter session of the Maharashtra legislature,” he added.

Ajit Pawar's NCP is a partner in the ruling Mahayuti alliance.

Tejwani allegedly entered into a Rs 300-crore deal to sell the 40-acre land parcel to Amadea on behalf of the 272 former owners of the land. The land, in fact, is owned by the government, which has leased it to the Botanical Survey of India.

Suspended tehsildar Suryakant Yeole is accused of misusing his power by issuing eviction notices to the Botanical Survey of India. The accused have been booked for cheating, criminal breach of trust, and other relevant offences. Parth Pawar was not made an accused as his name did not appear on the sale deed, police had said earlier.

Meawhile, Amadea Enterprises LLP on Thursday attended the hearing before the Joint District Registrar in connection with the recovery notice issued last month seeking Rs 21crore stamp duty and sought to justify the stamp duty exemption it had availed in the Mundhwa land deal.

"A hearing was scheduled today. Amadea Enterprises LLP's lawyers, in their representation, submitted that the firm was eligible for stamp duty waiver, which they availed by citing a proposal of setting up of data centre on the Mundhwa land," said a senior official from IGR office.

The joint district registrar has taken the submission into account and the order in this regard was delivered after scrutinising their submission on legal grounds, the official added.

Meanwhile, Tejwani was remanded in police custody till December 11 after she was produced before Judicial Magistrate (First Class) A C Bagal on Thursday.

Seeking her remand, the prosecution told the court that Tejwani, acting as a power of attorney holder, attempted to regrant the Maharashtra 'watan' land to the original 'watandars'. The probe has so far revealed that the original 'watandars' did not receive any benefit from the deal, it said.

"Police want to investigate whether Tejwani received Rs 300 crore and, if so, how she received the money," the prosecution submitted.

The defence opposed the remand plea terming the arrest illegal, and argued that Tejwani had cooperated with the investigation and responded to all summons.

After hearing both sides, the court remanded Tejwani to police custody till December 11. PTI PR SPK NR BNM