CM orders inquiry into land deals by officials near Mumbai-Nagpur E-way.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently ordered an inquiry into the source of money of government officials who are accused of purchasing large tracts of land in the villages of Shahapur tehsil of Thane district, which lie adjacent to the proposed Mumbai Nagpur Supercommunication Expressway.

The Hindu on December 13 had reported that the Chief Minister’s Office had received a complaint from Shetkari Sangharsh Samiti along with land documents mentioning names of officers who have purchased around 700 acres of land parcels near the proposed e-way and townships adjacent to it.

Nationalist Congress Party MLA Jayant Patil recently raised an adjournment motion in the Assembly asking the government to come clean on the issue. “The complaint has named senior government officers. How can the location of the townships be leaked from the CM office for the benefit of a few officers? Is the project planned for these officers?” said Mr. Patil.

In reply, Mr. Fadnavis said, “There is no land acquisition in this project as it is was acquired via land pooling. Whoever gives his land will get a developed plot. So, it won't be of use to anyone to purchase land beforehand. But an inquiry will be held into the source of money of the officers whose names are mentioned. It needs to be probed how they managed to purchase this much of land,”

Later, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik named the officers. “Thane Deputy District Collector Jairam Pawar’s brother Vijay; Additional Commissioner Kailas Jadhav’s brother Subhash and Thane Municipal Corporation’s Additional Commissioner Sunil Chavan. What action will be taken against them? CM much conduct a speedy inquiry.”

THE HINDU