NEW DELHI, Dec 10: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Pune Police for “protecting the son of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and investigating others” while hearing an anticipatory bail plea filed by one of the arrested accused in the Rs 300 crore Pune land deal case.
Justice Madhav Jamdar was hearing a plea filed by Pune-based businesswoman Sheetal Tejwani seeking anticipatory bail in the case registered at Bhavdhan Police Station in connection with the Rs 300 crore Pune land deal case. Senior advocate Rajiv Chavan, instructed by Advocate Ajay Bhise, appeared for the accused and urged the court to grant anticipatory bail to Tejwani, who was denied the same relief in the case by a Pune sessions court.
The sale of 40 acres of land in Pune’s upscale Mundhwa area to Amadea Enterprises LLP – a Pune-based firm linked to Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar – at far below its estimated market value of up to Rs 1,800 crore and exemption from payment of Rs 21 crore stamp duty came under the scanner after it emerged that the said plot belonged to the Maharashtra government, and it could not be sold.
Tejwani, who claims to be a lawful Power of Attorney holder for the land, was arrested by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) on December 3 for her role in the case registered at Khadak Police Station. The land in question is located at Village Mundhwa, which is in the jurisdiction of the Bhavdhan Police Station. However, it has been alleged that Khadak Police Station in Pune registered a First Information Report (FIR), being investigated by the EOW, over the same issue.
Fearing arrest in the fresh case registered at the Bhavdhan Police Station, Tejwani approached a Pune sessions court for grant of anticipatory bail. However, the sessions court on December 8 only issued notice to the Bhavdhan Police and did not consider any ad-interim relief.
Chavan, while making submissions before the High Court on Wednesday, submitted that the sessions court should have considered granting an ad-interim relief to Tejwani. Justice Jamdar, however, said the sessions court should have been granted time as the plea in High Court was filed on December 9, and refused to entertain Tejwani’s plea, saying it would impose Rs 5 lakh costs on the petitioner. Following this, Chavan and Bhise decided to withdraw Tejwani’s anticipatory bail plea.
The bench then pulled up the prosecution, noting that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s son was not even named in the FIR. “You are protecting the son of the Deputy Chief Minister and investigating others,” the bench said. Tejwani will now pursue her anticipatory bail plea before the Pune Sessions court.
(Manas Dasgupta)
