Khadse likely to still face trouble in land purchase case

Mumbai: Former revenue minister Eknath Khadse is in for some more trouble as the complainant against him in the MIDC land purchase case in Pune, Hemant Gavande has raised objections to the closure report filed in the case by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) before the special court in Pune. Mr Gavande has alleged that though Mr Khadse’s family acquired an unsecured loan of `4 crore from Benchmark Buildcon Pvt. Ltd, which had taken a loan from another company, the ACB did not investigate that aspect.

The hearing is likely to take place on June 5. Mr Gavande had filed a complaint before, on May 30, 2016 with the ACB about the land purchase made by Mr Khadse’s family. He had levelled allegations against Mr Khadse, his wife Mandakini and son-in-law Girish Chaudhari. The ACB did not investigated the matter, so Mr Gavande approached the Bombay high court. The ACB filed a FIR as per direction of the court and held a preliminary inquiry. The ACB didn’t find any substance in the complaint and filed a closure report before the Pune special court.

Mr Gavande and social activist Anjali Damania objected to the ACB’s contentions and pointed out few important points before the court. The ACB found no misuse of power by Mr Khadse, which was refuted by the complainant by showing the meeting conducted by him at his office on April 12, 2016, taking personal interest with revenue, MIDC and land acquisition officials. He directed officers to take a decision to either return the land to Ukani (original land owner) or give compensation.

Mr Khadse’s family executed an agreement for land purchase after this meeting.

The ACB’s report mentions that `4 crore unsecured loan was taken By Mr Khadse’s family for purchasing the land from Benchmark Buildcon Pvt. Ltd, a company which has also taken loan from another company. These are not money lending companies but still these transactions took place and were never investigated by the ACB, claimed Mr Gavande.