THE MEGA Rs 23,000 crore 4G SCAM BY the GOVERNMENT AND RELIANCE

AAP alleged another scam
After the 2G spectrum allocation scam during the former UPA government, another major telecom scandal in the allocation of 4G spectrum (Broadband and Wireless Access - BWA) ) has now been exposed in its latest report submitted by the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) to the central government.

According to the information available so far, this scam has caused a loss of around Rs 23,000 crore to the public exchequer in the initial estimates and this amount will definitely go up in case a thorough and impartial probe is ordered by the Narendra Modi government.

The Aam Aadmi Party demands that the BJP-led NDA's central  government should  immediately cancel the telecom license and allotment of 4G spectrum given to Reliance Industries and also order a CBI probe for a through criminal investigation into this scam involving Reliance Industries and the UPA government.

If the NDA government delays tabling of the CAG report on the 4G spectrum & BWA allocation scam and does not cancel its allotment, it will become clear that this government also is favouring corporates and allowing them to loot national resources.

The details of this scam are as follows:
The UPA government in March 2013 allowed a back-door entry of Reliance Jio Infocomm into voice telephony in violation of the judgment of the Supreme Court in the 2G case. This was done at the price discovered in 2001 of Rs 1,658 crore for a pan-India licence, which is the same price that was struck down by the Supreme Court in its 2G judgment, because that had caused a huge loss to the public exchequer.

During May-June 2010 the auctions for 3G and 4G were concluded. The 3G auction fetched Rs 16,750.58 crore for 5+5 MHz spectrum in 2100 MHz (or 2.1 GHz) band. Thus, per MHz, the price worked out to be Rs 1,675 crore. Immediately, after the 3G auction, the 4G auction began which fetched Rs 12,847.77 crore for 20 MHz pan-India license in the 2300 MHz (or 2.3 GHz) band. This works out to be Rs 642.39 crore per MHz.

This was so because all documents stated that 4G spectrum was for data services only, whereas 3G spectrum can be used for both data and voice telephony. (All relevant documents - including the CAG report, Reliance Jio Infocomm reply and Department of Telecom response are attached with this press release).

Infotel Broadband Services Pvt Ltd (IBSPL) emerged as the only company to have acquired pan-India 4G spectrum. IBSPL had an internet license since November 2007 and had just one subscriber with revenue of Rs 16.28 lakhs during 2009-10, and its authorized share capital was Rs three crore and the paid up capital was Rs 2.51 crore. Infotel Digicomm Pvt Ltd (IDPL) held 99.99% share of the IBSPL at the time of submission of application in March 2010.

Within hours of completion of 4G auction on 11.06.2010, IBSPL increased the authorised share capital from Rs three crore to Rs 6,000 crore. On 17.06.2010, the company authorized its Board of Directors to allot Rs 475 crore equity share of Rs 10 each to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and 25 crore equity share of Rs 10 to Infotech Digicomm Pvt Ltd (IDPL) aggregating to the equity capital of Rs 5,000 crore. On the same day, the company also decided to change from a private company to Public Limited Company (Infotel Broadband Services Ltd). Thus, the company within a week of winning the 4G spectrum disposed off 95% shares to RIL while 5% was retained by IDPL. Much later in March 2013, the company was renamed as Reliance Jio Infocomm Pvt Ltd.

CAG has found that the Government did not protect its interest at the time of framing eligibility criteria for the 4G auction. It allowed participation of internet (ISP) licensees without ensuring adequate safeguards in terms of net-worth of the companies participating in the auction. It found that while a UAS licensee or even a new company without a license was allowed to participate in the 4G auction, but
they had to pass through the test of net-worth in order to become eligible, but no such criteria was specified for the existing internet (ISP) licensees participating in 4G auction. CAG observed that this criterion was important even for ISP-A licensees as they had to participate in the bidding where the reserve price was fixed at Rs 1,750 crore per pan-India license for 20 MHz spectrum in 2.3 GHz band.

The only company which won the pan-India 4G license, was an ISP-A licensee, Infotel Broadband Services Pvt Ltd (IBSPL), a HFCL promoted group company. CAG has stated that IBSPL was given the ISP-A license in November 2007, and it had just one leased-line subscribers as on December 2009 and total revenue of just Rs 16.28 lakh for FY 2009-10. The paid-up capital was just Rs 2.51 crore and 99.99 per cent of it was held by Infotel Digicom Pvt Ltd at the time of submission of application for the 4G auction in March 2010. Thus, this company could not be termed as a serious player. And there were no checks in-built in the auction process to eliminate such non-serious players, CAG has observed.

After the company was taken over Reliance Industries, the government allowed it to provide voice telephony (which was earlier prohibited) without conducting a fresh auction. This was done at the rate of Rs 1,658 crore which was fixed in 2001, and had been struck down by the Supreme Court in the 2G case for causing huge loss to public exchequer. The CAG has now concluded that besides vitiating the auction process, an undue advantage of Rs 22,842 crore was given to RIL at the cost of exchequer. The relevant part of the CAG’s report is reproduced below: -

It was found that the basis of the decision i.e. payment of entry fee of Rs 1,658 crore by ISP licensee for a permission to Pan India provision of mobile voice services using BWA spectrum considered by the DoT Committee, Telecom Commission and the MOC&IT, was primarily intended to fill the gap between the eligibility criterion stipulated for participation in the 3G / BWA auction in 2010 as UAS / CMTS licensees had paid entry fee of Rs 1,658 crore while ISP licensees had paid only Rs 30 lakh.

The DoT Committee, Telecom Commission and the Ministry of communication &IT  however ignored the fact that the quantum of entry fee i.e. Rs 1,658 crore was basically discovered in 2001 through the bidding for the 4th Cellular licenses. Market conditions since then have changed drastically, and this price needed to be modified to reflect the present value.

Neither the DoT Committee / TC under the Chairmanship of the Secretary DoT nor the ministry felt the need for revision of the price discovered in 2001 as the entry fee for UASL in 2013, even when the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India had cancelled 122 licenses granted in 2008 on the basis of the same entry fee stating that it was impossible for them to approve the action of the DoT.

Therefore, by permitting ISPs to provide mobile voice service using BWA spectrum won in 2010 auction post-auction, the government has brought ISP licensees with BWA spectrum at par with UAS / CMTS 3G spectrum winners so far as provision of services are concerned – Voice, Data, etc., and post auction interpretation of such vital nature would appear to be arbitrary, inconsistent and not appropriate.

Hence, IBSPL, now Reliance JioInfocomm, appeared to have been accorded undue advantage of Rs 22,842 crore i.e. the difference of the proportionate prices for 20 MHz block size in 2.1 GHz spectrum band (3G spectrum) and 2.3 GHz spectrum band (BWA spectrum) plus the Net Present Value of the entry fee for UASL at the end of FY 2009-10 (Rs 20,653 crore plus Rs 3,847 crore - Rs 1,658 crore). Besides, the sanctity of the entire auction process has been rendered vitiated due to post auction interpretations and interventions after three years. It was therefore no surprise that Reliance JioInfocomm was among the first group of companies which applied for UL immediately after introduction of the scheme and obtained the Letter of Intent (LoI).

Had the spectrum blocks been specified and declared as liberalised spectrum blocks i.e. open for all technology / services in the NIA in February 2010, there was no doubt that bidders would have taken informed decision for putting up their bid and the market discovered price would have been significantly different for 3G and BWA spectrum.

AAP leader and senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of Reliance Industries’ telecom license and a through criminal investigation. Supreme Court had issued notice to the government and Reliance on that petition on 9th May 2014.
Courtesy:
Sent By AAP on Mails Dated 01.07.2014

BJP to back SC-ordered probe of Ambani, gas price

New Delhi:BJP is in favour of a criminal investigation against Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani and the issue of gas pricing if the Supreme Court orders it. Senior party leader and leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley has said he would be happy if the apex court orders a criminal investigation into the matter but he does not support the way Aam Aadmi Party has moved on the issue as it threatens to break down the constitutional structure in the country.

Jaitley also refuted charges that the BJP had maintained silence on the issue saying the party had officially said that the process of gas pricing was not transparent and a Yashwant Sinha-led parliamentary committee had even recommended its re-examination.

Jaitley said, “I will be very happy if court (the SC where two PILs on the issue are pending) orders a criminal investigation into it. But this process that we will break down the constitutional and organizational structures... you will get cheap publicity but not be able to govern in the long run.”

Before demitting office, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal ordered registration of an FIR by the anti-corruption branch on the issue of doubling of gas prices in the country. The FIR named Ambani and petroleum minister Veerappa Moily as accused among others.

Attacking AAP’s way of governance and politics, Jaitley said, “They first create an imaginary issue... an imaginary villain and then attack it. This is their politics.” Jaitley spoke on the issue during a discussion on a TV channel.

Jaitley recalled that the BJP has officially said that the process of gas pricing was not transparent. “Yashwant Sinha was the chairman of the parliamentary committee on finance. The committee had recommended to the government that these prices be fixed again and re-examined. The right way to go about the issue is to go to court or discuss in Parliament,” Jaitley said, adding that CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta had already filed a PIL on the issue in the SC.

Mocking the AAP move, he asked, “Should the Rajasthan government say that because Prime Minister has allocated coal blocks so police should summon the PM. The country has to run but not by anarchy.”

Jaitley, however, conceded that Kejriwal had the strength of honesty with him. Answering a specific question on the issue, Jaitley said, “Anyone who does politics of honesty obviously has some sort of strength with him. But being honest is the bare minimum for politics, it’s not the whole and sole political system within itself.”

Manmohan led India’s most corrupt govt: 
Advani New Delhi: Veteran BJP leader L K Advani has said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has presided over the most corrupt government in independent India. Launching an attack on the UPA government, the senior BJP leader and former deputy prime minister in the NDA government said the decade-long rule of the Congress had driven Parliament to an all-time low.

“Manmohan Singh began his tenure with a clean personal reputation. But as his decade-long tenure is coming to a close, he would leave behind a record of having presided over the most corrupt government in independent India,” Advani said in his latest blog. Advani said the UPA government has driven Parliament to an “all-time low”. TNN
Courtesy:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2014/02/17&PageLabel=8&EntityId=Ar00800&ViewMode=HTML

AAP gets powerful boost as whistleblower of Rs 70,000 cr irrigation scam joins party

The honest bureaucrat and expert on irrigation, Vijay Pandhare had exposed exactly how the scam was perpetrated.

Nagpur News: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Maharashtra received a powerful boost and a shot in the arm when the Irrigation Officer and whistleblower of the 70,000 crore Irrigation Scam in Maharashtra Vijay Pandhare joined the party today in Nashik. He addressed a joint press conference with AAP leaders Anjali Damania and Sanjiv Sane to announce this decision at 1 pm on December 1 at Hotel Samrat in Nashik.

The AAP Maharashtra Convener Anjali Damania had blown the lid off the irrigation scam in which thousands of crores were spent on meaningless projects just to benefit crony capitalism. Government attempts to sweep the scam under the carpet were blown away when the honest and expert on irrigation, Vijay Pandhare exposed exactly how the scam was perpetrated. A bureaucrat himself, he was undeterred by the thought of repercussions from his political bosses and set a sterling example before the nation.
Saturday was his last day in service and today he has decided to enter the cesspool of politics to clean the muck that has ruined the country. Under his leadership AAP will pursue the perpetrators of the irrigation scam and strive to get every rupee back.

“We also welcome all bureaucrats who have tried their best to serve the nation despite the stranglehold of corrupt politicians, to take this fight to the public – to join AAP, contest elections and bring about the political revolution that is so critical to change the system,” the party Convener Anjali Damania said.
Courtesy:
Published On: Mon, Dec 2nd, 2013
News Today | By Nagpur Today
http://www.nagpurtoday.in/aap-gets-powerful-boost-as-whistleblower-of-rs-70000-cr-irrigation-scam-joins-party/

Chira Bazar builders get 55-cr stamp duty fine

They, however, claim that there is no need to pay stamp duty as they have not acquired any land

The office of the collector of stamps has found that the two developers, who had signed an agreement to develop all the buildings in Chira Bazaar, have evaded duty. The state department has asked the two developers to pay Rs 55 crore as stamp duty and penalty. At the heart of the controversy is Mayank Gandhi, a member of the Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Parti. Gandhi was witness to the agreement signed by the two real estate developers to develop Chira Bazar. He was also a member of the NGO that promoted redevelopment in the area.

The issue goes back to 2007 when Lalit Gandhi of Lok Housing formed an NGO – Remaking of Mumbai Federation (ROMF) – to take up cluster development of Chira Bazar, in afirst of its kind experiment. His nephew Mayank, the secretary of the NGO, began interacting with the 8,000 families in the area.

At the time, Remaking of Mumbai Housing Infrastructure (ROMIF), a commercial entity associated with Lok Housing, submitted proposals to various government departments seeking clearance for cluster development of Chira Bazar. However, four years later, ROMIF sold a part of the project to Unity Realty and Developers Ltd (URDL) for Rs 10 crore, claiming they had consent from the residents. Mayank was accused of commercially exploiting work done by his NGO and allowing its commercial arm to sell it to another developer. On the basis of this allegation, the Aam Aadmi Party ordered a probe against Mayank Gandhi by their internal Lokpal.

Meanwhile, Janhit Manch, a Mumbai based NGO filed a complaint to the Office of Collector of Stamp, alleging the developers had evaded stamp duty on the agreement they signed.

“The actual worth of the project was much more. It is also a clear case of commercial entities and NGOs working together with sole motive of earning profits,” alleged Utsal Karani, secretary of Janhit Manch.

The enforcement cell of the Collector of Stamps then initiated an inquiry where both developers were asked to explain their stand. They claim that it was merely an understanding between the two parties and that they had not evaded any duty.

The investigators however did not buy the explanation given by the developers, stating that it was a joint development agreement between the two sides. On March 13, a notice was issued to the developers seeking Rs 36.42 crore stamp duty and a penalty of Rs 18.94 crore.

When Mumbai Mirror contacted ROMF and ROMIF officials, their representative Anil Shinde said, “We received only one communication a few months ago from Collector of Stamps Office and we responded to it. After that we haven’t received any notice to pay duty.”

Vinay Digrajkar, senior manager, corporate communications at URDL confirmed that they had received a notice to pay Rs 55 crore, but added that the developers were yet to take a decision on how to respond to the notice. “It was just an arrangement for future joint business of redevelopment. But land wasn’t procured by any partner, as neither entered in to an agreement of redevelopment with anybody. Under such circumstances Bombay Stamp Act provisions are not applicable to the said arrangement.”

Mayank Gandhi said that he had resigned from the NGO and had nothing to do with the issue.“I merely signed as a witness on the agreement. Let the state recover dues from the two entities,” he said.
Curtosy:
Yogesh.Sadhwani @timesgroup.com 
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=MMIR/2013/03/21&PageLabel=12&EntityId=Ar01200&ViewMode=HTML

DAMNED BY THE IRRIGATION SCAM : AAP Black Paper Highlights

1.    The Black Paper illustrates what a genuine White Paper on Irrigation should have ideally been like. The White Paper of the Irrigation Department is a farcical ‘Status Paper’ made to cover up the gross illegalities committed. In fact it is a joke that the White Paper is being prepared by the WRD itself! Hence, AAP has brought out the true picture through a Black Paper.

2.    It illustrates that figures relating to area brought under irrigation, as claimed in the White Paper, are misleading. We have learned that the WRD’s White Paper states that the land under irrigation has increased by 12.47 lakh hectares since 2001, that is 6 to 9%.  Assuming these figures are correct we have to understand that any increase mentioned is a result of irrigation due to wells, bore wells, drip irrigation, lift irrigation and not just due to dams and canals for which the WRD has made huge expenditure. We have also heard that the White Paper claims that the land under irrigation area has increased from 17.8% since 2001 to 28% but this is misleading as it pertain to the increase in the percentage of gross irrigated area to the gross cropped area.

3.    It has been prepared after analyzing data from sources and the findings show that the WRD’s tall claims about the area brought under irrigation are contradictory. As per WRD’s own data during 08-09 to 09-10, irrigation potential increased by only 0.148 Mha (Million Hectares) i.e. by a mere 3% year on year and irrigation on canals has actually decreased by 0.169 Mha. The ultimate irrigation potential stated by NABARD is 8.4 Mha while the CWC has stated it as 8.952 Mha, nowhere close to WRD claim of 12.6 Mha. DES data states that Irrigation Potential created by completed projects was a mere 2.95 Mha as agasint the WRD claim of 4.486 Mha.

4.    The Black Paper shows how Maharashtra, despite having the highest number of large dams has lesser increase in irrigated area vis-à-vis other States in the Country. As per CWC the Net Irrigated Area has actually decreased between the years 2000 and 2008!

Net Irrigated Area in Thousand Hectares
Period		Maharashtra	Madhya Pradesh	Gujrat	Orissa
2000	2001	3,249	4,135	2,806	1,334
2007	2008	3,181	6,418	3,528	2,158
Increase (%)		-2.09%	55.21%	25.73%	61.77%

           

          There is no other State in India or even Country in the world which has such shameful achievements

           

5.    The Black Paper proves how the cost per hectare for bringing land under irrigation in Maharashtra is the highest in the Country and probably in the World. The gross irrigated area has increased by a mere 8.9 % in spite of an annual expenditure of Rs. 7,000 crores amounting to a staggering Rs. 70,000 crores. That means Rs. 21.67 lacs per hectare which is in gross violation as the limit mandated by the Central Water Commission of Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 2.5 lakh per hectare.

6.    The Black Paper exposes the modus operandi of the Irrigation Scam and the politician-bureaucrat-contractor nexus.

7.    The Black Paper also exposes that the main reason of such dismal performance of the WRD is largely due to the illegal diversion of water from Irrigation Projects for non-irrigation purposes. Water reserved for non-irrigation use (i.e. domestic and industrial) should be within the 15% to 25% spectrum but this ratio is cruelly reversed. At least 398.87 million cubic metres of water per year was diverted from irrigation to thermal power plants in Vidarbha between 2003 and 2011. This water could irrigate approximately 79,774 hectares of farmland. Coal-based thermal power is an extremely water-intensive way to generate energy.

8.    The Black Paper exposes the Laws, Acts, G.R.s and guidelines that have been violated by the WRD in almost all irrigation projects.

·       Violations of various Acts of the State and Central Govt.

·       Violations of the Hon’ble Governor’s Directives’

·       Violations of Govt.’s norms

·       Violations of IDC’s norms

·       Violations of CVC norms

·       By-passing the MWRRA

·       Creating Regional imbalances

·       Creating financial burden on the State

·       Partisanship to select contractors

·       Cartelization of bidders in tenders

·       Increasing the scope of work after tendering

·       Allotting dis-proportionately large number of projects to a few select contractors

9.    This Back Paper therefore demands the following actions from the Govt. of Maharashtra:

·      Immediate resignation of Sunil Tatkare, Minister WRD;

·      Set up an SIT probe to investigate into the Irrigation Scam;

·      Halt all dam projects in the State where there are violations and where Rehabilitation and Resettlement of PAPs has not been completed

·      Initiate disciplinary & punitive action against the Ministers and Officers of the WRD found guilty and implicated by the SIT probe and recover the funds siphoned off by them;

·      Black-list the contractors found guilty and implicated by the SIT probe and recover the funds siphoned off by them;

·      Initiate disciplinary & punitive action against the contractors found guilty and implicated by the SIT probe.

Kejriwal reads out ‘Swiss bank account numbers’ of Ambanis

Mumbai: Ignoring denials issued previously by the Ambanis, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday reiterated allegations that they held secret Swiss bank accounts and revealed their alleged account numbers.

“A few days ago, I exposed that Anil and Mukesh Ambani have Swiss bank accounts. They have not admitted their fraud. I have the Swiss bank account numbers of Anil and Mukesh Ambani here with me. Shall I read them?” Kejriwal asked a packed hall at the Times of India Literary Carnival on Sunday. “5090160983 and 5090160984, HSBC Bank,” he said.

Reacting to Kejriwal’s latest salvo, a spokesperson for Anil Ambani rejected the allegations. “Mr Anil D Ambani had no bank account with HSBC in Geneva. It is regrettable that such baseless allegations are being made at the behest of vested interests,” the spokesperson said.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) also rejected the allegations and reiterated its November statement.

Black money: I-T dept not acting against rich, alleges Kejriwal
Mumbai: Reacting to Arvind Kejriwal’s fresh allegations on Sunday, an RIL spokesperson said, “We had already issued a statement on November 9, 2012 that categorically stated that neither Reliance Industries Limited nor Mr Mukesh Ambani have or had any illegitimate accounts anywhere in the world.”

Last month, Kejriwal had alleged that the Ambani brothers had Rs 100 crore each in Swiss bank accounts while their mother Kokilaben also had a Swiss bank account which had no balance.

Kejriwal and his colleague Prashant Bhushan had also accused multinational bank HSBC of running a huge hawala operation to launder thousands of crores of illicit money belonging to leading industrialists such as the Ambanis, the Burmans of Dabur, Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways, Yashovardhan Birla and Congress MP Annu Tandon. All of them had denied the allegations.

Kejriwal said the income tax department had received the Swiss bank details in 2011 but had chosen not to act against the big fish on the list. “The papers are with the I-T department,” he said. “They (the Ambanis) could have been prosecuted but nothing has been done,” he said.

Earlier, Kejriwal had demanded that the government should reveal the names and amounts of all 700 on the list and explain why it has adopted a different method of investigation against high-income individuals while conducting raids on smaller businessmen.

He had said the government’s statement released a day after he made his allegation in November had proved that the list was authentic and that the tax department had decided to proceed selectively on the list handed over by France.

Citing the example of the US and the UK governments, Kejriwal had questioned the government's reluctance to demand information related to Indians who held secret accounts in foreign banks.

While Kejriwal had made the allegations against HSBC and top Indian businessmen at a news conference last month, this time he chose to make his revelations at a gathering of common citizens at the Times Literary Carnival, who roared and whistled their approval and practically drowned out the numbers which the activist-turned-politician read out.

He has made a string of allegations against politicians, political parties and businessmen in the run-up to the launch of his political party, Aam Admi Party, hoping to cash in on the anti-corruption sentiment in the country.
Courtesy:
Shalini Umachandran TNN
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2012/12/10&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00303&ViewMode=HTML

Kejriwal’s party targets Bhujbals over Mhada land :

NCP Minister’s Family Denies Any Irregularity

Mumbai: In a veiled attack on PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) headed by social activist Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday alleged that the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) lost prime land worth a few crores after it failed to stop Bhavesh Builders Pvt Ltd from constructing a commercial complex on a 802 sq-m plot meant for residential use in 2003. Bhujbal’s son Pankaj and nephew Samir were directors of Bhavesh Builders from October 3, 1994 till September 7, 2009 as per company details available on the ministry of corporate affairs’ website.

“This public land was given by Mhada at a throwaway price. It seems land grabbing is easy if you are a minister in the state cabinet. You can get land allocated and change land use blatantly without any accountability,’’ the AAP said in a statement.

Samir denied any irregularity in the deal. “I have not sold any premises in the commercial complex. I do not remember the details of this deal as it is over five years old. I was just appointed as a contractor by Tulsi co-operative housing society to construct the commercial building. If the plot was for residential use, then I assume the society would have got Mhada’s permission to convert it to commercial,’’ he said.

Mhada vice president Satish Gavai said he would have to look into the issue. Niranjan K Sudhanshu, chief officer of Mhada’s Mumbai board, told TOI that the authority had sent a notice of recovery for Rs 1.94 crore to Tulsi on November 3, 2012 for changing the land use from residential to commercial. “The land was given to Tulsi for residential purpose. The residential use was then allowed to be changed to commercial in February 2005. There is no agreement between the said developer and Mhada,” said Sudhanshu.

The case dates back to 2001 when it was proposed to form a co-operative housing society named Tulsi. The society applied to Mhada for a residential plot next to the police station in Oshiwara to construct residential houses for its members.

In October 2002, Mhada allotted the 0plot to Tulsi for the purpose of residential use. In May 2003, Mhada and Tulsi registered the lease agreement. In February 2003, Tulsi entered into a development agreement with Bhavesh Builders, giving them the complete right to develop and dispose of the property in any way they deem fit.

The building that came up on the plot was not residential, but a commercial complex, Platinum Court. “This commercial property is worth more than Rs 200 crore and does not have a single original member of Tulsi. We believe the premises has reportedly been sold by Bhavesh Builders,” the AAP claimed.

The deal, said the AAP, has raised many questions. “On what grounds did Mhada give the prime plot to Tulsi? Why did the society give all the rights of the property to a developer for no consideration, which begs the question if Tulsi was just a front for the builder to get land at a throwaway price from Mhada,” asked AAP volunteer Sanjay Parmar, who has gleamed some of the records under the RTI Act.

Courtesy:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2012/12/16&PageLabel=4&EntityId=Ar00402&ViewMode=HTML