Bombay High Court Flags MP Parth Pawar's 99% Stake In Firm That Bought Govt Land At Discount; DGP To Monitor Further Probe

The Bombay High Court on Thursday (October 1) flagged that Parth Pawar, son of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar and a Rajya Sabha MP, holds 99% stake in Ameida Enterprises LLP, which allegedly purchased a 40-acre government-owned land parcel in Pune's Mundhwa area at a price much lower than its actual value.

The Court was informed that the Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) has directed the Pune Police to carry out a further investigation into the case in a “detailed and professional” manner. The DGP has also stated that he will personally monitor the progress of the investigation.

The development comes after the High Court had earlier questioned why Pawar was not named as an accused in the case, despite the police having named Digvijay Patil, who holds only 1% stake in Ameida Enterprises LLP, as an accused.

On September 7, Justice Madhav Jamdar had directed the DGP to file a personal affidavit explaining why Pawar's name had not been added as an accused.

The case concerns allegations of irregularities in the purchase of the 40-acre government-owned land parcel in Mundhwa by Ameida Enterprises LLP.

The present proceedings arise out of an anticipatory bail application filed by Pune Tehsildar Suryakant Yewale, who has been named as an accused in the case for allegedly misusing his official position to facilitate the transaction. Yewale has denied having any role in the transaction and claimed that he has been falsely implicated.

Justice Madhav Jamdar today expressed shock over the fact that still Pawar hasn't been named as an accused in the case. "It is very surprising that a person, who owns 99 per cent shares in the partnership firm isn't made an accused but someone who owns only 1 per cent shares is named. Mr Pawar is a very influential person and is the son of the present Deputy Chief Minister," Justice Jamdar said.

The judge, accepted the statement made by the DGP in the affidavit.

The judge therefore, granted anticipatory bail to on Suryakant Yewale, a Tehsildar from Pune, who was booked in the land deal case. The judge opined that the Tehsildar, had passed the orders in his capacity as a quasi-judicial authority and that there was no specific allegation against him that he passed orders in someone's favour under the Bombay Tenancy Act, for some illegal considerations.

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