Maharashtra land row: After kin’s deal, Eknath Khadse played Minister, hiked rates

In what raises questions of propriety and conflict of interest, Khadse did not reveal to the bureaucrats present at the meeting that his wife and son-in-law had already paid an initial sum of Rs 50 lakh to the land owner for purchasing the land.

Khadse held meeting on April 12.

“A sum of Rs 50,00,000 (Rupees Fifty Lakhs Only) has been paid by the purchasers to Hasnain Zoeb Ukani on 11.03.2016 through Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) to his bank account at Oriental Bank of Commerce, Kolkata Branch,” says the registered sale deed, a copy of which is with The Indian Express.

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The current market value of the property is Rs 31 crore. Under the new Land Act, the land owner stands to get two times the market value plus an added 33 per cent as solatium. Additionally, the new Act requires the MIDC to pay interest for the delayed compensation — nine per cent for the first year, and 15 per cent for subsequent years.

This is considerably more than the original compensation — Rs 6,000 per acre — that was offered when the state government gazetted the land for MIDC use on February 1, 1968. On April 4, 2013, a report from the Pune Collector to the industries department said that as per the old rate, the compensation and interest for delayed payment added up to about Rs 80 lakh.

The proceedings of the April 12 meeting show that Khadse summoned then MIDC CEO Bhushan Gagrani, then Revenue Secretary (in-charge) Vikas Kharge, Pune Collector Saurabh Rao — all IAS officers — MIDC Deputy CEO Dr Ramesh Survade and a Deputy Secretary Gawde (first name unknown) from the land acquisition cell in Mantralaya.

According to records of the meeting, Rao said it would be “advisable to wait for directives from the industries department on whether there was a need to initiate a fresh acquisition process in the case or otherwise.”

Gagrani too backed Rao’s viewpoint, and added that “on receipt of directives from the industries department, it would be appropriate to carry out negotiations between the land owners and the MIDC regarding the extent of compensation.”

While Khadse said that “guidance from the revenue department be taken”, Kharge noted that “such guidance would be given only if the industries department asked for it”.

The meeting ended with Khadse directing that “since injustice had been meted out to the land owner with no compensation being given to him after 40 years, immediate corrective action must now be taken in the case.”

About a fortnight after this meeting, the land was sold to Khadse’s family members on April 27, reportedly for Rs 3.75 crore.

The MIDC and state industries department have raised objections against this transaction, stating that it had already acquired the land and allotted it to various industries. The Ukani family has challenged the acquisition of land and its possession by MIDC on the ground that they had not received compensated as per law.