PUNE: The inquiry report on the Mundhwa land issue, led by Vikas Kharge, reveals that local revenue officials, including the talathi and circle officer, initially identified irregularities in the contentious sale and halted the mutation in their records. However, procedural oversights and a lack of notification to higher authorities later compromised scrutiny.
The report indicates that approximately 45 acres of government land, identified as survey no. 88 in Mundhwa, was registered on May 20, 2005, at the Haveli sub-registrar’s office in favor of Amadea Enterprises LLP for ₹300 crore, encompassing 17 hectares of land.
On May 21, 2005, partner Digvijay Amarsinh Patil applied through the Mundhwa talathi for mutation in the 7/12 extract. The talathi highlighted the document as a double entry and noted that the 7/12 extract was closed.
KHARGE PANEL
A letter dated May 28, 2005, informed the firm that the mutation could not proceed, communicated via the Pune city tehsildar’s office due to incomplete address information. The Yerawada circle officer reported on July 15, 2005, that the title record was closed and unenterable in the computerized system.
However, tehsildar Suryakant Yewale did not inform the district collector, an oversight described by the committee as a neglect of duty. Furthermore, the report noted that on May 26, 2005, Amadea sought eviction of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), claiming the expiration of its lease from October 4, 1973. A notice was issued to BSI on June 9, 2005, requesting action regarding possession.
The Kharge panel deemed this action improper, emphasizing that the tehsildar should have consulted the collector and confirmed the legal standing. It also referenced a revenue minister’s order from September 6, 2013, regarding the removal of the land from the vatan category, complicating the legal situation further.
