Pune: The court of additional sessions judge PY Ladekar on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of suspended tehsildar Suryakant Yewale in the case of issuing two illegal orders granting ownership rights of govt lands in Mundhwa and Bopodi to private parties.The Khadak police registered a case based on a complaint by naib tehsildar Pravina Borde on Nov 7 and Pune police’s economic offences wing is investigating the same.District govt pleader Pramod Bombatkar opposed the plea. He termed Yewale as the prime accused whose initiative and cooperation led to the alleged offence that resulted in the eventual bid to take over a govt land by power of attorney holder Sheetal Tejwani. The latter entered a Rs300 crore deal with Amedia Enteprises LLP in which deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s son, Parth, is a partner. Yewale’s lawyer Harshad Nimbalkar had argued that the decision was taken in a quasi-judicial capacity, was subject to appellate scrutiny and that criminal action was unwarranted.Bombatkar told TOI: “The court rejected the pre-arrest application after we objected. The prosecution contended that Yewale, while functioning as tehsildar, deliberately ignored orders issued by the then revenue minister and the additional district collector in relation to the govt land. Despite the regrant application being rejected twice by the revenue minister and a writ petition filed on behalf of the watandars (original land holders) being dismissed by the high court, Yewale issued directions to the Botanical Survey of India to vacate the land on the basis of a letter from Amedia Enterprises LLP.“Earlier, on Nov 13, the sessions court had granted Yewale ad-interim pre-arrest bail while hearing his anticipatory bail application till a final decision on his plea.
