Pune: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday admitted that his son, Parth, did not consult any legal experts or him before proceeding with the land deal, while defending the state govt’s decision of not mentioning him (Parth) in the FIR related to it because he was not among the signatories. “I have not yet met Parth ever since the issue came up. When I meet him, I will advise him that even if any close associate comes to him with any deal, not to go ahead without consulting legal advisers. It was a lesson for him,” he told reporters on Saturday.Ajit Pawar came under fire from the opposition after details of a deal emerged where a 40-acre land parcel, notified as Mahar Watan land in Mundhwa, was transferred to Amadea Enterprises, in which Parth and his cousin, Digvijay Patil, are partners. Calling it a serious issue, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered an inquiry. Two committees have been constituted to carry out an investigation into how the illegal deal took place.An FIR has been registered in this connection at Bavdhan police station naming Digvijay, Sheetal Tejwani, who held the power of attorney, and the suspended sub-registrar, Ravindra Taru. It does not mention the name of Parth despite holding 99% of the company’s shares.The opposition accused the govt of shielding Parth by not naming him in the FIR, while Ajit Pawar clarified that it was registered against those who signed the deal. Parth was not among those signatories, he said. “Considering that it is govt-owned land, the deal should not have happened, but somebody showed the daring of proceeding with the deal. Now the committees are carrying out inquiries to find out if anybody influenced the officials for it,” Ajit Pawar said.The deputy chief minister said he had not spoken to any family members about the issue so far but admitted that it was Parth’s mistake to proceed with the deal without consulting legal advisors. “In any deal, we first check through legal advisors if the documents are clear, and then only we proceed. The same thing did not happen in this case. I was also not aware of it; otherwise, I would have told them not to go ahead with the deal,” he said.The probe panel headed by the joint IGR will submit its report in seven days, while the committee headed by the additional chief secretary of the revenue department is expected to conclude the inquiry in the Mundhwa land deal case within a month and submit its report to the state govt. “Along with the inquiry of the deal, the committee will give suggestions to the govt on how to avoid such deals involving govt lands in future,” Ajit Pawar said.Responding to the opposition’s demand that he should resign as deputy chief minister, he said, “In my 35 years of political career, I have faced various allegations. None of those allegations could be proven, but it tarnished my reputation. When elections are close, such allegations start coming from the opposition. These subside once the polls are over.”
