Civic body seals Jogeshwari plot case documents

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sealed all the documents related to the controversial Jogeshwari plot case, said civic chief Ajoy Mehta on Thursday. The inquiry report will be filed in 8-10 days and stern action would be taken against officials who will be found guilty, he added.

Following the uproar on Wednesday, opposition leader Ravi Raja from Congress again raised the issue in the civic standing committee on Thursday pointing out that it was civic officials’ lethargic approach which led the BMC to lose the plot worth '500 crore. Mr Mehta, who made a statement before a committee, admitted that the matter is serious and officials from law and development plan departments will be probed thoroughly.

Denying the allegations levelled against him, the municipal commissioner said that it was him who had pointed to the anomalies in the matter in order to ensure the acquisition of the plot by the BMC.

“When the file pertaining to the plot which had a reservation of a recreational ground (RG) and hospital came to me for the first time in May 2016, I had directed to start the acquisition process. In December 2017, when I was informed that we had lost the case in the high court with regards to the acquisition of the plot, I ordered to challenge it in the Supreme Court (SC). In May this year, when the file came back to me wherein the law department had suggested that we should not approach the SC, I said the matter is very serious and we should challenge it,” said Mr Mehta.

The remark written by civic chief on the file was also found in a tampered manner, due to which the BMC filed an FIR in the case.

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam filed an FIR against the civic chief on Wednesday alleging that the later was also involved in the loss of the prime plot. On Thursday he also wrote to the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding Mr Mehta’s suspension.

Plot case background

The 3.3 acre plot at Majas, Jogeshwari, was reserved for recreational ground and hospital in the Development Plan 1991. But, since the civic body didn’t acquire it, the owner sent a purchase notice in May 2014 informing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to acquire it in a year. The BMC’s failure to acquire the land led to the lapse of the purchase notice and consequently, the reservation on the plot. As the owner refused to hand over the land, the BMC challenged it in the Bombay high court, but it lost the case too.