Retired Bombay High Court Judge Kishor Rohi will probe into allegations of wrongdoing in the Navi Mumbai land allotment case in which the Congress has been questioning the role of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. More than a month after Fadnavis informed the state legislature that a “judicial” probe will be conducted, the CM-led urban development department issued orders appointing the retired judge for the one-member committee. The Congress has alleged that the 24-acre plot under question had been placed under the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited’s (CIDCO’s) disposal and had been dubiously “parceled out” to benefit a private builder having links to a BJP leader. On February 26, 2018, Raigad’s Additional Collector had allotted the plot, in Kharghar’s Ranjanpada-Ove, to eight families displaced by the Koyna dam project. Documents show that on May 14, all eight families had sold off the land to a private builder, Paradise Group. The Congress has dubbed the entire transaction a “scam” to gift “prime government land” to a private builder. On July 5, Fadnavis had announced setting up of a probe panel during a discussion over the controversy during the Monsoon Session of the state Assembly. While the CM had informed the legislature that CIDCO had nothing to do with the land, the Congress had later released official documents to show that the latter had, on at least three different occasions, laid claim on the 24-acre plot and even questioned the collector’s powers to dispose off the land. The panel has been asked to probe if the land was vested in the state government or the CIDCO and whether the collector’s office, which functions under the aegis of the state’s revenue department, had the power to dispose it off. The panel has also been asked to look into whether the allottees could have sold the land after it had been allotted and whether non-agricultural use was permissible on the plot. Seeking to turn the tables on the Opposition, the Fadnavis government has also asked the committee to look into all land allotments made to oustees of the Koyna dam project in the past 15 years. The scope of work includes investigating if the allotment had been made as per the prevalent norms, and whether ineligible persons had benefited from the allotment. The panel has also been asked to look into subsequent transfer of such land. It has been asked to submit a report in three months. Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam, who is spearheading the Congress campaign on the issue, meanwhile, alleged that the probe was “nothing but a hogwash”. He said: “The CM had announced a judicial probe. But the committee, which has been set up, has not been given powers under the Commissions of Inquiry (COI) Act, 1952.” He added that Fadnavis “appears to have gone back on his assurance of scrapping the transaction pending probe.” Sources in the CMO, however, said Fadnavis had only assured the legislature that no further transaction would be permitted to be recorded pending the probe, which had been complied with. The Congress leader also demanded removal of all officials who had played a role in the transaction from positions of influence.
