Bhatia lodged the FIR at Deccan Gymkhana police station late this evening stating that Bongirwar was defendant No 2 in a case against the municipal corporation. The FIR says the fourth joint civil judge, junior division in case No 2250 had observed in his judgement, passed on January 27, 1986, that the tenders were approved illegally, arbitrarily and in a manner that smacked of favouritism.

The FIR says when the corporation took the case to the district court in the appeal, the court stated even more grave findings. The judgement was passed by seventh additional district judge P V Kadade on 28 February 1986. Quoting the judgement, the FIR says the documents clearly indicate the fact thatthe municipal commissioner himself was directly party to apparently illegal acts even though the subordinates brought to his notice certain irregularities and illegalities by way of letters as well as audit notes drawn in this regard.

The FIR says that the tender notice for road construction stated the amount of work to be Rs 25 lakh whereas work was allotted to some favoured contractors to the extent of Rs 2 crore. It further says the court had remarked in its order that the decision was illegal.

According to the FIR, Bongirwar bypassed the public works committee and sent the proposal directly to the standing committee, violating the Section 73 of Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act. It points out that Bongirwar was personally involved in the case, as stated in the court judgement, since he acted against the written advice of the officers.

The FIR also alleges that Bongirwar acted in a haste in order to avoid the due process of law, the fact even accepted in the court judgement. Bongirwar hadfiled an appeal in Bombay HC but it was rejected. The HC while rejecting his appeal had said that findings of both the courts do not suffer from any infirmity and there was no error on the face of the record.

Bhatia has demanded that an FIR should be registered against Bongirwar immediately and he should be informed the registration number.

Govt okays ACB probe against Bhatia

PUNE: Maharashtra government has given the green signal for investigations by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) against the controversial Municipal Commissioner Arun Bhatia to probe his role in a land deal conducted during his tenure as the divisional commissioner of Pune, Chief Minister Narayan Rane said here today.

The decision comes after the Director General of Police urged an ACB inquiry into Bhatia's role in the Maharwatan Land deal in which the high-profile bureaucrat has allegedly favoured a real estate agent Aditya Maharaj Singh while serving as Pune Municipal Commissioner. Talking to media persons, Rane said`Bhatia will not be spared if in the course of the investigations it comes to light that he had committed an irregularity'.