Mumbai: The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has demanded the resignation of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) land allotment row, days after the Bombay High Court ordered status quo on the matter.
The MVA — comprising the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Congress and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) — has alleged that in April 2021, Shinde, as Urban Development minister, allotted over 4.5 acres reserved for slum dwellers at a ‘throwaway’ price to 16 private individuals, despite the matter being sub-judice.
The CM, however, has denied any wrongdoing and claimed that he wasn’t aware of the matter being sub-judice in the high court as NIT and urban development (ministry) officials did not brief him about it. Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray, during whose tenure as the CM the decision was taken, has said that “if the decision is wrong, it is wrong.”
So, what is the land allotment case about and why is the MVA demanding Shinde’s resignation now. ThePrint explains:
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What is the case
The matter dates to 2004 when activist Anil Wadpalliwar filed a petition in Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found irregularities in the allotment of land parcels by NIT and public utility lands.
In 2002, a cooperative housing society wanted to regularise 52 plots, including the land under the NIT. The NIT had gone to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) for permission as the area was under the civic body. But the permission was denied.
In 2017, the high court set up a one-man committee under retired judge M.N. Gilani to study and investigate the matter. The initial findings of the Gilani committee pointed out that the NIT had framed Sakkadara Street Scheme in 1964 — sanctioned by the state government in 1967 — which included 42.8 acres of land plot, which was with one Kheta family till 1975. Eventually, the land was awarded to NIT in 1981 and remained under its possession.
The committee had also found irregularities and violations in the land allotment process by the NIT.
The Gilani committee report stated “prima facie this (illegal allotments) is a blatant misuse of public property. It is also noticed that 3.61 acres of land is under encroachment. Allowing the land for encroachment is an act of sheer negligence and dereliction of duty on the part of officers.”
“It is strange that none of the allotments were for removal of slum conditions in unauthorised layouts. Complete deviation of object cherished behind before acquisition proceedings,” the report added.
In 2018, the matter came to light again when Nagpur-based Right to Information (RTI) activist Kamlesh Shah wrote to the NIT chairman over the ‘illegal allotments’ issue as the matter was pending in the high court. He, then, moved the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Nagpur, and submitted all the documents relating to the case. The ACB, Nagpur, forwarded the complaint to its Mumbai unit from where it went to principal secretary, Urban Development, Shah told ThePrint.
Shah said that despite back and forth correspondence, he did not get any response and instead of replying and answering to him over his queries, the ACB Nagpur kept on passing the file forward.
On December 14, taking cognisance of news reports submitted by amicus curiae advocate Anand Parchure, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court ordered status quo on Shinde’s decision of giving the plot to private persons.
“The learned amicus submits that if the news items are true, there is a possibility of the state government had interfered in the administration of justice by this court when the very issue is pending before this court. We would request the state government to submit its response,” the court said, asking the government to submit its response by the next hearing on 4 January.
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Ruckus in Assembly
Following the HC order, the assembly session, which commenced on 19 December, saw the opposition up in arms against the Eknath Shinde-led coalition government.
Amid the opposition’s demand for the CM’s resignation, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis Tuesday told the Assembly that Shinde had implemented a 2007 decision taken by the Congress government under Vilasrao Deshmukh. He also informed the House that the government has, now, withdrawn the allocation of the land.
On Tuesday, Shinde informed the Assembly that he has already cancelled the land allotment and claimed that he was unaware of the case being sub-judice.
Uddhav Thackeray, who is also the member of Legislative Council, held a media briefing Tuesday, where he demanded that Shinde should step down as CM for a fair trial. “If all is well, then why did the government cancel the land allocation? Is it okay for such an individual to hold office after such observations were made by the court? There are precedents of ministers quitting after allegations. The practice should be followed,” he said.
When questioned that the decision was taken during his rule, Thackeray said, “So what? If a decision is wrong, then it is wrong.”
The MVA raised slogans inside and outside the assembly on Wednesday as well.
The opposition leaders protested with banners reading the message of ‘Bhukhanda cha Shrikhand (kickbacks for land allotment)’ outside the assembly, while MVA leaders Prithviraj Chavan, Jitendra Awhad and Chhagan Bhujbal flagged the topic for discussion inside the House. But the government steered away from the discussion, saying the matter is sub-judice.
“If Shraddha Walkar case and (Maharashtra-Karnataka) border row can be discussed despite being sub-judice, then why not the NIT matter,” asked an MVA leader.
This article has been updated to reflect that the allegations regarding land allotment refer to regularisation, not deregularisation of unauthorised plots. The error is regretted.
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)
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