Pune: The Vikas Kharge-led committee probing alleged irregularities in a Mundhwa land purchase deed linked to Parth Pawar, son of late deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, was granted a one-week extension to submit its report, state revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Thursday.He dismissed “absolutely wrong” reports in a section of the media suggesting that Parth was cleared in the case. “Talks of a clean chit are premature. How can such things be declared when the committee is yet to submit its report? It would not be appropriate to comment on the matter until I see it,” Bawankule told TOI.The minister said the five-member panel headed by Kharge, additional chief secretary (revenue), sought seven more days in view of the zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections scheduled for Saturday and it was granted. The committee’s earlier deadline will end on Friday.A senior revenue department official said the inquiry report is in its final stages. “It is almost ready. Officials from the departments concerned have given their inputs. A report is being collated, and will be submitted to the state govt soon,” the official said.Bawankule also said the findings of another five-member committee appointed by the inspector general of registration and controller of stamps would be merged with the report submitted by the Kharge panel.The Kharge-led committee is examining alleged procedural lapses in valuation, documentation and role of officials involved in the registration of a land purchase deed related to survey number 88 at Mundhwa in Pune. The panel was constituted in early Nov last year amid a political controversy and was initially told to submit its report by Dec 6. The deadline was later extended to Jan 6 and then by another month after the committee sought more time to scrutinise records and responses from multiple departments.Apart from Kharge, the committee comprises the Pune divisional commissioner, the commissioner of land registration and director of land records, the inspector general of registration and controller of stamps, and the Pune district collector. Activists have criticised the repeated extensions, alleging these could dilute the probe. Activist Vijay Kumbhar told TOI that he did not expect much from the inquiry. “Parth Pawar was given a clean chit in the EOW case. Here too, the committee is unlikely to name him,” he said.
