The Bombay High Court questioned why Parth Pawar—holding a 99% stake in the firm involved—was not named an accused or treated as a beneficiary, while a 1% stakeholder faced charges.
The court made these observations while granting pre-arrest bail to Pune Tehsildar Suryakant Yewale, who was accused of misusing his position in the controversial transaction.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the probe, the court directed the police to conduct a more detailed and professional investigation into the Mundhwa land deal.
HC Asks If Parth Pawar Did Not Benefit From Mundhwa Land Deal? Grants Pre-Arrest Bail To Accused
Bombay High Court Questions Police Probe, Demands Detailed Investigation Into Pune Property Transaction While Providing Relief to Tehsildar
Summary
The Bombay High Court on Thursday orally asked the Maharashtra government if Parth Pawar, son of Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar, was not a beneficiary in the Mundhwa land deal case as he holds 99 per cent stake in the firm that bought the state plot at a heavily discounted price.
Parth Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP, is a majority partner in Amadea Enterprises LLP, which purchased a 40-acre government-owned land parcel in Pune's upscale Mundhwa area at a price much lower than its actual value.
A single bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar said a person who holds 1 per cent share in the company has been made an accused in the case, but the probe was silent on the person (Parth Pawar) who holds 99 per cent of the shares in the firm.
The court poised this question while granting pre-arrest bail to Pune Tehsildar Suryakant Yewale, named an accused in the case for allegedly misusing his official position to facilitate the controversial transaction.
Yewale has denied any role in the transaction and claimed he has been falsely implicated.
The court last month sought the Maharashtra's Director General of Police (DGP)'s response to a submission made by Yewale in his plea that Parth Pawar was not named an accused in the case as he was a highly influential person.
DGP Sadanand Date, in his affidavit submitted to the court, said there was a need for a more professional and detailed investigation and hence instructions have been issued to the Pune Commissioner of Police to carry out further probe in the matter.
The court on Thursday accepted the statement, but questioned the police probe.
"Your stand as Investigating Officer is that the person who is having 99 per cent shareholding is not responsible, and the one who is accused is the person having 1 per cent shareholding. Is the person who is having 99 per cent hare, Parth Pawar, not a beneficiary of this transaction?" Justice Jamdar orally questioned.
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As per the FIR, the land in Mundhwa, which fell under the category of Mahar Watan land (government-owned property) and was leased to the Botanical Survey of India, was sold to Amadea Enterprises at a lesser value and without the mandatory approval of the government.
Parth is a director of the company.
The sale of 40 acres of land in Pune’s Mundhwa area for Rs 300 crore to Amadea Enterprises came under scrutiny late last year after it emerged the plot belongs to the government and could not be sold. The firm was also allegedly exempted from paying Rs 21 crore in stamp duty.
In July, a Pune civil court ordered the cancellation of the sale deed in the controversial Mundhwa land transaction.
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