Shirsat illegally allotted Rs 5,000 crore land to Navi Mumbai family in 2024: NCP (SP) MLA

Mumbai, Aug 18 (PTI) Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Monday accused Maharashtra minister Sanjay Shirsat of allotting land worth more than Rs 5,000 crore to a Navi Mumbai family after bypassing legal procedures when he was chairman of state agency CIDCO.

Shirsat, a Shiv Sena leader, strongly refuted Pawar's claim and denied any irregularities in the matter and pointed out that decisions of City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), a state-run planning agency, are taken collectively by its board and not a single person.

Pawar, who sought Shirsat's resignation, noted the entire episode dates back to the British-era when more than 4,000 acres of land in present-day Navi Mumbai and its surrounding areas were awarded to members of the Bivalkar family by the colonial rulers as a political grant for aiding them against the Maratha empire.

Post-Independence, the government took over the land in question as per various legal provisions and judgments, the Opposition MLA said while talking to reporters here.

The Bivalkar family, however, continued to seek return of the land through various means, often resorting to manipulations and exploiting legal loopholes, he claimed.

"In 2024, as soon as Sanjay Shirsat was appointed chairman of CIDCO, he approved the allotment of about 15 acres of this disputed land to the Bivalkar family in his very first meeting, ignoring all legal norms," the MLA alleged.

The land in question is spread across 15 villages under Roha, Panvel, Alibag, and Uran tehsils of the coastal Raigad district, maintained the NCP (SP) legislator.

In 1952, the Bivalkar family misrepresented this political grant by the British as a personal grant with the help of local officials, thus evading implications of the Ceiling Act, 1961, by registering the land as reserved forest in 1959, Pawar claimed.

According to the MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed in Ahilyanagar district (erstwhile Ahmednagar), the Maharashtra Private Forest Acquisition Act, 1975, subsequently brought the land under government control.

Although the Bivalkars remained inactive until 1985, they later objected to the acquisition and approached courts. Their petitions were rejected by the collector in 1989, but upheld by the Bombay High Court in 2014, allegedly due to the government's legal team failing to present the matter effectively, he claimed.

The state government later challenged the HC decision in the Supreme Court in 2015 and obtained a stay.

Pawar stated that the Bivalkar family filed repeated applications for return of 12.5 per cent land under the CIDCO's PAP (project affected people) policy -- first in 1993 and again in 1995, 2010, and 2023.

The NCP (SP) MLA alleged that on March 1, 2024, a letter from the Urban Development Department instructed CIDCO to proceed with allotment of the the land to the Bivalkars.

Shirsat was appointed CIDCO chairman on September 16, 2024, and at the very first meeting of the state agency under his stewardship, he approved the allocation of 61,000 square metres of land worth Rs 5,000 crore to the family, he claimed.

"A tripartite land development agreement has already been signed for 8,000 square metres with construction set to begin. However, the homes built on the land will go to the wealthy, not the poor. Meanwhile, over 5,000 local project-affected people (PAPs) continue to wait for justice," Pawar said.

He demanded that the Mahayuti government revoke the "illegal" land allotment.

The MLA sought Shirsat's resignation and announced an NCP (SP) delegation would visit CIDCO's headquarters in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday to seek answers to the party's questions and grievances related to the displaced local population.

When contacted, Shirsat, who holds the social justice portfolio in the BJP-led Mahayuti government, refuted the claim of any irregularities.

"Rohit Pawar should seek information officially from the CIDCO and verify if there was any irregularities. There was no agreement or allotment of land in the matter. Decisions of (CIDCO) are taken by the entire board and not a single person," the minister told PTI from London. PTI MR PR ARU RSY