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Journalism of Courage
Sheetal Tejwani, a prime accused in the Pune land deal case with links to Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s son Parth, has been remanded to police custody till December 11 by a court in Pune on Thursday. Tejwani was arrested on Wednesday by Pune police for her role relating to alleged irregularities in the Mundhwa land deal case.
Tejwani held the power of attorney for 272 watandars of Mahar watan land in Mundhwa for its sale to Amadea Enterprises LLP, a firm in which Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s son, Parth, is a partner.
The Pune land deal has been embroiled in a controversy as the land in Mundhwa, that fell under the category of Mahar Watan land and leased to the Botanical Survey of India, was sold to Amadea Enterprises LLP without the mandatory approval of the state government. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s son Parth is a partner in Amadea Enterprises.
After her arrest on Wednesday, Tejwani was produced before a court on Thursday in Pune where the police sought 14-day police custody for further interrogation into her role in the controversial land deal. Prosecution argued that Tejwani was not cooperating with the investigation. The defence lawyer for Tejwani argued that police had followed all necessary procedures for her arrest and submitted to the court that her arrest was illegal. After hearing arguments from the prosecution and defence, the court remanded Tejwani to police custody till December 11.
Tejwani was questioned by Pune police during the third week of November multiple times. Pune City Police have said that the FIR registered at Khadak police station, which was subsequently transferred to the Economic Offences Wing, pertains to alleged irregularities involving two separate land parcels in Bopodi and Mundhwa, linked by a common factor: suspended tehsildar Suryakant Yewale, who is accused of issuing wrongful orders in both cases. The land parcel in Mundhwa which was earlier a Mahar Watan — a hereditary land grant — had been in possession of the government and was leased to the Botanical Survey of India when its sale deed was executed in May earlier this year.
It is alleged that the firm Amadea Enterprises LLP in which Parth Pawar and Digvijay Patil are partners, purchased 40 acres of land in the prime Mundhwa survey jurisdiction of Pune. As per the rules, this particular category of land cannot be sold without prior approval from the state government. It has been alleged that the sale was executed at a significantly lower price and also with a waiver of stamp duty.
