Pune: The Bavdhan police on Sunday arrested suspended sub registrar Ravindra Balkrushna Taru (58) on charges of “gross irregularity” in registering a sale deed between Amadea Enterprises LLP and power of attorney (PoA) Sheetal Tejwani, relating to the 40acre govt land parcel in Mundhwa and causing loss to the exchequer by way of stamp duty waiver to such a registration.Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s son, Parth, is one of the two partners in Amadea Enterprises LLP although Parth has not been named in the FIR. Amadea’s other partner Digvijay Amarsinh Patil and Tejwani are named along with Taru in the FIR for charges under sections 316(5) criminal breach of trust, 318(4) cheating and 3(5), common intention, of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.Amadea intended to build a data centre on this land parcel, which was a Mahar Watan property before govt took over its possession and is currently occupied by Botanical Survey of India on a lease till 2038. Tejwani claims to have secured PoAs from the 272 Watandars (original land holders) to get the land regranted in their favour from govt. Instead, she entered a Rs300 crore deal with Amadea and got the sale deed registered in May.Pimpri Chinchwad’s deputy commissioner of police Vishal Gaikwad said, “We arrested Taru from his residence in Bhor based on the fact that he headed the Inspector General of Registration (IGR) sub registrar office Haveli IV, which registered the sale deed.”This is the first arrest by Pimpri Chinchwad police in the Bavdhan case and comes close on the heels of Pune police’s arrest of Tejwani on Dec 4 in another case of attempt to get the same govt land parcel re-granted allegedly through forged documents and illegal orders by suspended Pune city Tehsildar Suryakant Yeole.Gaikwad said, “As of now, Tejwani is in custody of Pune police in another case being investigated by their economic offences wing (EOW). We have secured a production/transfer warrant in her name and have submitted the same to the court concerned. We will secure Tejwani’s custody in the Bavdhan case once her remand in the Pune case is over.”Amadea partner Digvijay Patil has assured Pune police’s EOW that he would present himself on Dec 10 before the investigators for questioning and recording of his statement. Police had earlier issued him summons but he sought time to present himself before them.The Bavdhan CaseOn Nov 6, the Inspector General of Registration’s (IGR) office suspended Taru on charges of “gross irregularity in registering the sale deed and causing loss to the exchequer”. The same night, joint district register (class I) and stamp duty collector Santosh Hingane lodged a complaint with Bavdhan police against Taru, Tejwani and Digvijay Patil.A preliminary inquiry by Hingane stated, Taru was found to have registered the document without obtaining mandatory permission or a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the competent authority, despite clear indications that the land belonged to the state govt.The inquiry report stated that the 7/12 extract attached to the sale deed mentioned the “Government of Maharashtra (Mumbai Government)” as the landowner, and the entry was marked as “closed,” signifying govt ownership.Despite this, the sale deed concerning a property with a market value of Rs294.65 crore and a declared consideration of Rs300 crore — was registered without verifying the ownership or obtaining the requisite clearance.The Maharashtra Stamp Act provides for a stamp duty of 5% plus 1% local body tax and 1% metro cess, which, in the instant case works out to Rs21 crore against the declared consideration of Rs300 crore.However, the document was registered after collecting a token stamp duty of Rs500, citing an industrial concession under a letter of intent issued by the District Industries Centre, Pune, and a Revenue and Forest Department notification dated Feb 1, 2024, Taru’s suspension order stated.Even if such a concession was admissible, the 1% local body tax and 1% metro cess (which works out to around Rs6 crore) were not exempted, indicating a prima facie loss of government revenue, the suspension order stated.
