Retired judge to investigate Eknath Khadse’s Bhosari land deal

The state government on Monday appointed a retired judge to investigate allegations against former revenue minister Eknath Khadse in connection with the controversial Bhosari land deal. The inquiry will be completed within three months. Mr Khadse will return to the Cabinet before the Assembly Winter session if he gets exonerated in the inquiry. He has already got a clean chit in two other allegations regarding phone calls to Dawood Ibrahim and a bribery case against his associate.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that there would be a judicial inquiry into the allegations against Mr Khadse. “The inquiry will be completed in three months,” he said. Mr Khadse had resigned from the state Cabinet earlier this month following several allegations against him, including the alleged fraud in purchasing a plot at Bhosari, Pune.

Hemant Gawande, a local builder from Pune has alleged that Mr Khadse purchased three-acre MIDC land from the original owner of the land. The builder has also alleged that though the market price of the said land is approximately Rs 40 crore, Mr Khadse purchased it in the name of his wife and son-in-law for just Rs 3.75 crore.

“The judicial inquiry will find out whether the land belonged to MIDC, whether the acquisition process was completed by the MIDC, was there any illegality in the land deal and whether there was any conflict of interest in the deal,” the CM said.

The CM also said that the ACB and ATS have already given a clean chit to Mr Khadse in two other allegations against him. However, he refused to make any comment on the Bhosari land deal as the inquiry is pending in the matter.

If Mr Khadse gets cleared in the judicial inquiry, he could be back in the state government before the Assembly Winter session. The office of Mr Khadse in Mantralaya and even the official bungalow allotted to him as the minister has not been taken back yet by the government. According to sources, it has been decided by the government not to allot Mr Khadse’s office to anyone till all inquiries against him are complete.