Finance and law departments object to Maharashtra’s largesse to its leaders

Mumbai: The state cabinet on Sunday leased a 2,567 square meter (27,630.958 sq ft) plot in Pratiksha Nagar, Sion, to Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank for 30 years despite objections from the finance and law and judiciary departments. The bank’s chairman is BJP leader Pravin Darekar who is under investigation for using bogus means to assume the bank’s leadership.
As the state assembly elections draw closer, the Eknath Shinde government has been on a spree to distribute largesse. This is not restricted to welfare schemes alone. The allotment of the 2,567 square meter MHADA plot in Sion with an applicable Floor Space Index (FSI) of 3 and a fungible FSI of 0.35 will lead to a buildable area of 10,395 square meter which would command a market price of over ₹200 crore. Had it not been given to the bank for 30 years this land would have been used to build affordable housing by MHADA.
“The Bombay High Court while hearing a case filed in 2014 had opposed just such an allotment which should be fair and transparent, and the allotments should be made through advertisement and by maintaining a level playing field,” said the Law Judiciary and the Finance departments in their dissent. The government policy, they said, should not be treated as private property it also leads to losses to the state exchequer. “Thus, the proposal is not according to the rules,” the two departments had reportedly stated, adding that any allotment should be done through proper newspaper advertisements which was not done in this case.
When contacted, Pravin Darekar told HT: “I am not aware about the objection by the finance department. Everything is as per the existing laws of MHADA. We even changed the proposal moved earlier to fit it as per the lease policy. There is no irregularity, and we will hand over part of the developed land worth ₹50 crore in lieu of the ₹24 crore plot. The cooperative training institute coming up at this plot will be a state- of- the-art training institute catering to over 1.5 lakh cooperative institutions.”
On August 8, a similar allotment was made by the state government, awarding 2995.75 square meter (32,245.985 sq.ft) of prime south Mumbai land at Cuffe Parade for 30 years to Jain International Organisation. BJP leader Mangal Prabhat Lodha was chairman of JIO until he joined the cabinet. Once again, the plot was allotted in the teeth of objections from the finance department which pointed that the government should have invited expression of interest from other parties as well before making a final decision on allotment.
Earlier in March this year, the cabinet had given its assent to lease a 1.02 lakh sq. ft. plot of Wilson Gymkhana to JIO for 30 years to run Jain Gymkhana. The decision has since been challenged by the Wilson college students and alumni association in the Bombay High Court.
Revenue minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil however told HT that no decision has been taken illegally. “Everything has been done following the rules, whether it is the allocation to Mumbai Cooperative Bank or to JIO. The plot at Cuffe Parade was reserved for a school and we have given it to JIO on the condition they also admit poor children,” he said.
On Sunday, the state cabinet also extended the exemption from The Bombay Saranjams, Jahangirs and Other Inam of Political Nature, Resumption Rules which terminated privy purses and privileges of ruler of former Indian states from 1971. Udayanraje Bhosale, a direct descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and his lineal heirs were given exemption from the provisions allowing them to hold rights in the land which had been traditionally vested in them. Across India such land, as held by the then royal families, is divided among the tillers of the land. In 1980, the state government made an exception for Maharashtra’s royal families which keeps getting extended periodically. Bhosale is the BJP MP from Satara.
“This exemption to Udayanraje Bhosale is not to do any exceptional favour; it’s been done periodically by the government irrespective of the party in power,” said Vikhe-Patil.
The Advocate General of Maharashtra has opined that the exemption would be subject to the ruling by Bombay High Court in a petition filed by former MLC Vivek Pandit. He had contended that the exemption should be scrapped. However, the High Court has still not given its ruling in the case.
According to a senior bureaucrat who did not wish to go on record, “Most of these decisions including the allotment of the MHADA plot to Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank have led to the loss of revenue to the state exchequer which is already in bad shape. These decisions are unprecedented and lead to fiscal indiscipline. The rampant act of striking down of the opinions of the departments is something new in Maharashtra.”