BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has sought a court-monitored SIT probe against Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab in an alleged land conversion case. Kirit Somaiya in his plea said that Anil Parab and his aide got agricultural land and converted into non-agricultural land to build a resort on it.
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Friday moved the Bombay High Court seeking a investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) or directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR against Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab for alleged illegal conversion of land. Kirit Somaiya has sought a probe against Anil Parab over the illegal conversion of agricultural land to build a resort in Dapoli.
The petition by Somaiya alleged that Parab, along with his accomplice Vibhas Ranjan Sathe conspired with the sub-divisional officer, Dapoli, and violated the norms of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification of 2011 which forbids any new construction in No-Development Zones (NDZ).
According to the petition, Parab and Sathe got agricultural land in the NDZ converted into non-agricultural land to build a resort on it.
However, when the petition came up for hearing, the newly appointed Bombay high court judge Sharmila Deshmukh recused from hearing it. The plea is likely to be heard by another bench in the coming week.
Somaiya prayed for the constitution of a SIT under the supervision of a retired High Court judge for an investigation into the alleged forgery, cheating and dishonest inducement for illegal conversion of land use, criminal misconduct by public servants and the construction of a commercial resort in an NDZ.
The petition alleged Sathe bought agricultural land situated in a CRZ notified No-Development Zone in 2011 and, thereafter, in 2015, sought the gram panchayat’s permission to build a non-permanent structure on it.
It further alleged that Parab was granted permission subject to the condition that he would have to seek permission from the revenue department or the CRZ to use the structure for non-agricultural purposes. However, no construction was pursued. According to Somaiya, Parab bought the land for Rs 1 crore in 2017 but the sale deed was executed in 2019.
Somaiya’s plea stated that 3 months after the sale in 2017, although Parab was the owner of the land, Sathe applied for the conversion of the agricultural land into land for commercial or residential use and was granted such permission illegally by the sub-divisional Officer, Dapoli. Somaiya alleged that Parab constructed a resort on the land and secured an electricity connection as well.
The plea states that after questions were raised by the public over the illegality of the construction of the resort, Parab sold the property for Rs 1.1 crore to Sadanand Kadam in December 2019.
Sadanand Kadam’s chartered accountants declared that the property was valued at about Rs 5.4 crores. The plea further alleged that Kadam paid land revenues for 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 even though Parab had bought the land from Sathe in 2019.
In order to hide the illegal conversion of land use, Parab used his influence to manipulate revenue records to show that the land was transferred directly from Sathe to Kadam, alleged the plea.
The plea also stated that despite multiple representations before law enforcement agencies, no action has been taken against Parab owing to his political influence.
