44-Acre Mahar Land Controversy: In June, Pune official sought land eviction at Pawar son firm behest | Pune News

When contacted, Pune Collector Jitendra Dudi confirmed receipt of the BSI complaint, and said while his office was aware of the eviction notice served on BSI, it was not aware that a sale deed had already been entered into.

The sale deed was signed on May 19, 2025, between Sheetal Tejvani, who held the power of attorney on behalf of 272 original owners of the 17.51 hectares watan land belonging to the Mahar (now Scheduled Caste) community and a limited liability partnership firm owned by Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar and Digvijay Patil. Prior to Independence, villages in the state followed the watan system under which specific castes or families received land or revenue rights instead of cash for certain services.

In fact, in a First Information Report filed by Pune’s Khadak Police Station, City Tehsildar Suryakant Yevale wrote on June 9, 2025, to an ‘assistant director in the deputy director’s office’ saying the 17.51 hectares land should be vacated. The FIR does not mention to which department Yevale wrote, but said, “It shows that he illegally uses his authority.”

The FIR, based on a complaint by Naib Tehsildar Pravina Borde in Pune also said that the land was ‘illegally’ purchased by Amadea Enterprises, the LLP owned by Parth Pawar and Digvijay Patil. It says that Patil made an “illegal” application to Tehsildar Yevale that Amadea had purchased 17.51 hectares of Koregaon land in Survey Number 88 at Mundhwa, Pune city tehsil, from Sheetal Tejvani. In the application, the FIR said, Patil sought physical possession of the land.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced Thursday an inquiry committee to probe the alleged illegal sale of land and a day later said nobody would be spared. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar told reporters Friday the sale deed has been cancelled.

The plot of land, which is at the centre of the controversy, is leased out to BSI. Benniamin, who is currently in Delhi said, “We were obviously surprised to get the letter. But we had the confidence as we are under a lease. If the Collector asks us to vacate it then we are bound to, but if he is not, why should we bother? We are maintaining and conserving some plants, some threatened species.”

The Opposition has alleged that the land valued at about Rs 1,800 crore has been sold illegally for just Rs 300 crore, and the state exchequer was shortchanged with stamp duty to the tune of Rs 21 crore not being paid.

The BSI website says the area of 44 acres at Mundhwa and another 5 acres attached to the main office at 7-Koregaon Road, together house over 500 plant species, different vegetation types of the Western Ghats and Western Coast, and many endemic and threatened species. Pune is the headquarters of the BSI’s Western Regional Centre established in 1955 and leads explorations in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot region.

Pune Collector Dudi told The Indian Express that BSI had approached his office in June with the letter of the Tehsildar (Suryakant Yewale) which asked the Central government undertaking to hand over the land to the original watandars, on the basis of a letter given to his office by watandars saying they had paid a DD so they are the rightful owners now.

“On the basis of this letter the collector office had immediately written to the SDM and asked him to enquire about it, and ensure this illegal execution does not take place. It was being stopped at that time itself. Accordingly, we had started gathering evidence against the tehsildar and necessary action was being proposed against tehsildar around a month ago itself. On the basis of that the tehsildar was suspended yesterday and FIRs have been registered in both the matters,” Dudi said.

According to Dudi, the PoA holder Sheetal Tejvani submitted a letter to his office in December 2024 demanding possession of the land. “The letter claimedthey had paid money to our office through a DD. We checked and no such DD was received. It is important to note that possession of this kind of land cannot be transferred at all. And even if it is some type of land that can be transferred, government permission and challan have to be taken first,” he said.

As reported in The Indian Express on Saturday, Rajendra Muthe, Maharashtra’s Joint Inspector General of Registration, said the land belonged to the state government and could not be sold at any cost. Muthe, who is assisting the inquiry committee, had told The Indian Express, “The 7/12 document (land ownership document) showed Mumbai Sarkar (erstwhile Bombay government) as the owner. The property card issued after 2018 showed the same. The person holding power of attorney cannot sell the land at any cost. We are probing everything and will submit the report in seven days to the state government.” His office is responsible for registration of property documents and collection of stamp duty.

Dudi had on Friday told The Indian Express the sale deed was never executed as the land was in government possession. Asked if it was the responsibility of the Inspector General of Registration to alert the collectorate about the sale, he had said, “That is the mistake… They should have taken my permission… But there was no question of giving permission. Even the government cannot give permission.”