Pawar, Sule beneficiaries of Lavasa scam: Y P Singh

Former IPS officer and lawyer Y P Singh on Thursday alleged irregularities on the part of Union Minister and NCP leader Sharad Pawar, his daughter Supriya Sule and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in procuring 348 acres of irrigation land in Lavasa.

Singh said that activist Arvind Kejriwal was a part of the People's Commission of Inquiry, appointed by the Medha Patkar-led National Alliance of People's Movements, that inquired into the land deals in Lavasa. However, Kejriwal chose to expose a "petty scam" against BJP president Nitin Gadkari, Singh said. He added that Kejriwal "sensationalised" the allegations against Gadkari to garner votes, and was soft on the NCP as the party does not play a major role in Delhi elections. Singh alleged that Ajit Pawar allotted 141 hectares (348 acres) of land belonging to Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation on a renewable lease of 30 years to the Lake City Corporation in 2002. This, he claimed, was done in breach of a Supreme Court judgment that mandates auction of government land. LCC later came to be known as Lavasa Corporation Ltd, a subsidiary of Hindustan Construction Company, that was allotted the land at a monthly rent of Rs 23,000, Singh said. In 2006, Sule and her husband, Singh claimed, sold 10.4 per cent share in LCL. He alleged that Axis Bank, which invested Rs 250 crore in the LCL in 2008, valued the company at Rs 10,000 crore. "If the value of the company is taken into account on the basis of Axis Bank's assessment, the Sules must have got around Rs 240 crore from the sale of their shares. It is not reflected in the affidavit Sule filed detailing her assets before contesting 2009 Lok Sabha polls," Singh said.

"For the purpose of granting many major concessions... Sharad Pawar held a meeting in a guest house of the Lavasa on July 14, 2007 with Ajit Pawar and several other government officials," Singh alleged. It was at this meeting, Singh said, that decisions to grant concessions to LCL like greater height, reducing no development zone, giving more government land, were taken.

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