Will be the largest such inquiry against top IAS officials for blatant misuse of power and dereliction of duty
Five top IAS officers, including MSRDC managing director Bipin Srimali, will face a corruption inquiry after the state home department on Monday approved the Anti Corruption Bureau’s proposal for an open probe into the allotment of a Rs 400-crore prime MHADA plot in Borivali.
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Following the home department’s approval, the papers will be sent to the chief minister for formal approval, but sources say it is only a matter of time before the inquiry begins.
The men against whom the ACB has sought an inquiry headed MHADA’s Mumbai board between 2003 and 2011. They comprise, apart from Srimali, IAS officers Shyamsunder Shinde, Subhash Sonawane, Honaji Jawale and Satish Bhide. If approved by the CM, it will be the largest ACB inquiry against top IAS officers for alleged misuse of power and deleriction of duty.
The case pertains to a three-acre-11-guntha (one guntha is approximately 1,000 square feet) plot at Magathane in Borivli (E), which is currently valued at around Rs 400 crore.
The ACB suspects that the IAS officers bent the rules and went out all their way to assist builders who claimed to own the rights of the disputed government land. In the process, the ACB alleges, they did not attempt to protect the interests of the government, which was the rightful owner.
Apart from the ACB, MHADA Vice President Satish Gavai has also reportedly written to the government on the issue, seeking disciplinary action against the officers.
THE CASE
According to the ACB report submitted to the government, till 1970, MHADA owned the three-acre-11-guntha land at Magathane. The 7/12 extract (a revenue report card of every piece of land) of this land till then showed that it was free from any encumbrance. Some time in 1982-83, the rights of Srimati Puribai Devraj Khambala and 20 others were recorded in the 7/12 extract.
In the same year, the claimants filed a civil suit over their part-ownership of the land. The suit, which was eventually disposed in mid-2000, saw MHADA coming up with a proposal to crave up the property, with 60 per cent going to MHADA and 40 percent going to the claimants. MHADA even approved this proposal via resolution 6077.
As per this division, which ACB feels was illegal and unwarranted, MHADA was to get 1,981 square metres of land, while the claimants were to receive 1,321 square metres. The civil court, while disposing the suit filed by the claimants, passed strictures against MHADA’s decision to unilaterally offer a 60:40 division of property instead of fighting the case.
The ACB, in its preliminary inquiry, also found out that when MHADA eventually received its share, it consisted mostly of encroached land, as MHADA had not conducted a survey of the property before dividing it. In the past few years, MHADA officials even endorsed and supported an SRA scheme for encroachments on both its share of the property and that of the claimants, thus giving up its rights to the entire property.
The ACB says the deal is full of irregularities. “It starts with MHADA filing consent terms in the civil court for division of the property, when in fact it should have protected the entire property. No persmission from the government, which is the rightful owner, was taken in the process,” said a senior ACB officer.
According to the officers, subsequent developments such as accepting encroached property as its share, proposing an SRA scheme on the entire land, and not conducting a survey of encroachers, residents and claimants before proposing the SRA scheme, need thorough investigation.
More importantly, ACB suspects a case of forgery. It wants an in-depth probe into how a builder, who once represented the 20 claimants in civil court through a power of attorney, received a 40 per cent share in the property in 2003, almost five years after the prime claimant, Srimati Puribai Khambala, passed away.
The matter was first investigated by Arvind Dhole, who retired as chief engineer of MHADA this year. Subsequently, the matter was investigated by Satish Gavai who, apart from the IAS officers, has proposed action against then MHADA officers S G Gautam, Abhimany Kale, S S Parkar, P V Satam, P P Tanksale, K A Gaikwad and CR Thakur.
IAS OFFICERS UNDER THE SCANNER• Shyamsunder Shinde (IAS), MHADA chief from August 2003 to January 2005 (Now posted as chief officer, Maharashtra Maritime Board): “The matter is sub-judice. Decisions were taken by MHADA authority.”
• Subhash Sonawane (IAS), MHADA chief from January 2005 to November 2006 (Now retired): “I do not remember anything about this case. I am retired now.”
• Bipin Shrimali (IAS), MHADA chief from November 2006 to March 2008 (Now posted as managing director, MSRDC):“This matter is sub-judice. The Mumbai board has already filed an affidavit in the court demanding that the consent terms (for sharing of land) be cancelled.”
• Honaji Jawale (IAS), MHADA chief from April 2008 to February 2009 (Now posted as collector, Raigad): “I had no major role to play in this."
• Satish Bhide (IAS), MHADA chief from June 2009 to November 2011(Has taken voluntary retirement): “The matter is sub-judice."
Courtesy:
Yogesh Naik and Abhijit Sathe mirrorfeedback@indiatimes.com
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=MMIR/2013/04/09&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00300&ViewMode=HTML
Five top IAS officers, including MSRDC managing director Bipin Srimali, will face a corruption inquiry after the state home department on Monday approved the Anti Corruption Bureau’s proposal for an open probe into the allotment of a Rs 400-crore prime MHADA plot in Borivali.
Following the home department’s approval, the papers will be sent to the chief minister for formal approval, but sources say it is only a matter of time before the inquiry begins.
The men against whom the ACB has sought an inquiry headed MHADA’s Mumbai board between 2003 and 2011. They comprise, apart from Srimali, IAS officers Shyamsunder Shinde, Subhash Sonawane, Honaji Jawale and Satish Bhide. If approved by the CM, it will be the largest ACB inquiry against top IAS officers for alleged misuse of power and deleriction of duty.
The case pertains to a three-acre-11-guntha (one guntha is approximately 1,000 square feet) plot at Magathane in Borivli (E), which is currently valued at around Rs 400 crore.
The ACB suspects that the IAS officers bent the rules and went out all their way to assist builders who claimed to own the rights of the disputed government land. In the process, the ACB alleges, they did not attempt to protect the interests of the government, which was the rightful owner.
Apart from the ACB, MHADA Vice President Satish Gavai has also reportedly written to the government on the issue, seeking disciplinary action against the officers.
THE CASE
According to the ACB report submitted to the government, till 1970, MHADA owned the three-acre-11-guntha land at Magathane. The 7/12 extract (a revenue report card of every piece of land) of this land till then showed that it was free from any encumbrance. Some time in 1982-83, the rights of Srimati Puribai Devraj Khambala and 20 others were recorded in the 7/12 extract.
In the same year, the claimants filed a civil suit over their part-ownership of the land. The suit, which was eventually disposed in mid-2000, saw MHADA coming up with a proposal to crave up the property, with 60 per cent going to MHADA and 40 percent going to the claimants. MHADA even approved this proposal via resolution 6077.
As per this division, which ACB feels was illegal and unwarranted, MHADA was to get 1,981 square metres of land, while the claimants were to receive 1,321 square metres. The civil court, while disposing the suit filed by the claimants, passed strictures against MHADA’s decision to unilaterally offer a 60:40 division of property instead of fighting the case.
The ACB, in its preliminary inquiry, also found out that when MHADA eventually received its share, it consisted mostly of encroached land, as MHADA had not conducted a survey of the property before dividing it. In the past few years, MHADA officials even endorsed and supported an SRA scheme for encroachments on both its share of the property and that of the claimants, thus giving up its rights to the entire property.
The ACB says the deal is full of irregularities. “It starts with MHADA filing consent terms in the civil court for division of the property, when in fact it should have protected the entire property. No persmission from the government, which is the rightful owner, was taken in the process,” said a senior ACB officer.
According to the officers, subsequent developments such as accepting encroached property as its share, proposing an SRA scheme on the entire land, and not conducting a survey of encroachers, residents and claimants before proposing the SRA scheme, need thorough investigation.
More importantly, ACB suspects a case of forgery. It wants an in-depth probe into how a builder, who once represented the 20 claimants in civil court through a power of attorney, received a 40 per cent share in the property in 2003, almost five years after the prime claimant, Srimati Puribai Khambala, passed away.
The matter was first investigated by Arvind Dhole, who retired as chief engineer of MHADA this year. Subsequently, the matter was investigated by Satish Gavai who, apart from the IAS officers, has proposed action against then MHADA officers S G Gautam, Abhimany Kale, S S Parkar, P V Satam, P P Tanksale, K A Gaikwad and CR Thakur.
IAS OFFICERS UNDER THE SCANNER• Shyamsunder Shinde (IAS), MHADA chief from August 2003 to January 2005 (Now posted as chief officer, Maharashtra Maritime Board): “The matter is sub-judice. Decisions were taken by MHADA authority.”
• Subhash Sonawane (IAS), MHADA chief from January 2005 to November 2006 (Now retired): “I do not remember anything about this case. I am retired now.”
• Bipin Shrimali (IAS), MHADA chief from November 2006 to March 2008 (Now posted as managing director, MSRDC):“This matter is sub-judice. The Mumbai board has already filed an affidavit in the court demanding that the consent terms (for sharing of land) be cancelled.”
• Honaji Jawale (IAS), MHADA chief from April 2008 to February 2009 (Now posted as collector, Raigad): “I had no major role to play in this."
• Satish Bhide (IAS), MHADA chief from June 2009 to November 2011(Has taken voluntary retirement): “The matter is sub-judice."
Courtesy:
Yogesh Naik and Abhijit Sathe mirrorfeedback@indiatimes.com
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=MMIR/2013/04/09&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00300&ViewMode=HTML
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