Lawyers of arrested ex-commissioner of VVCMC say buildings in question were built before his tenure
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, the lawyers said that Pawar joined as commissioner on January 13, 2022 and the 41 buildings in question were given construction permits and occupancy certificates between 2013-2021.
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The statement also said that the scheduled offence required for the ED to begin a probe are FIRs filed against builders accused of fraudulently selling properties to buyers and the VVCMC is a complainant in some of the complaints, filed before Pawar's tenure. REFUTING ALLEGATIONS made by the Enforcement Directorate, lawyers of IAS officer Anil Pawar, the former commissioner of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC), arrested over alleged construction of 41 residential and commercial buildings, said the buildings were demolished during his tenure. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, the lawyers said that Pawar joined as commissioner on January 13, 2022 and the 41 buildings in question were given construction permits and occupancy certificates between 2013-2021.
“…during the tenure of Mr Pawar, all those 41 buildings were demolished. The commissioners of the earlier period and the CIDCO authorities have not been investigated by the ED. This amounts to cherry-picking of the evidence and shows the targeted approach of the investigation,” the lawyers said. The lawyers also denied that shell entities were created by Pawar to launder money. The statement said that the companies belonging to the relatives of Pawar were formed between 1997 to 2019, before his posting as a commissioner and that those companies are regularly audited and pay taxes.
The statement also said that the scheduled offence required for the ED to begin a probe are FIRs filed against builders accused of fraudulently selling properties to buyers and the VVCMC is a complainant in some of the complaints, filed before Pawar’s tenure. Pawar’s lawyers denied that he had received any amount from the builders, stating that he was not even posted in the corporation at that time. They claimed that no builder has given any such statement nor has any money trail been established to prove the allegations. The ED in its remand pleas said commencement certificates and occupancy certificates were given for various projects due to connivance between VVCMC officials and the builders. The ED has claimed that statements of builders and architects show that many departments of the corporation were given a fixed amount for a file and a fixed rate per square feet was decided with a codeword system in place for collection of bribes. Denying these allegations, Pawar’s lawyers claimed that there has been a ‘targeted investigation’ by the ED for ‘extraneous consideration’.
Pawar and three others, including suspended official Y S Reddy, the deputy director of Urban Planning, were arrested on August 13. On Wednesday, a special court sent them to judicial custody till September 3.
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