Nearly three years after a mid-day investigation exposed how the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had procured a plot of land in Dahisar, valued at R54 crore at the time, for a whopping Rs 349 crore, the demand for legal action against those responsible is gaining momentum. On Saturday, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya visited the MHB Colony police station and sought registration of an FIR against all parties concerned. 

mid-day had in a report published on October 23, 2020, exposed the inflated deal for the acquisition of the encroached land located in the Eksar village in Dahisar. The BMC’s land acquisition policy allows it to acquire land as long as it is put to use for open spaces or public amenities, and the land in question was reserved for a maternity home and a playground in official records. However, the same policy also dictates that no land can be acquired if there are encroachments on it, and mid-day had revealed how the BMC went ahead with the deal despite a dense slum colony on the land. The deal was signed between the civic body and Nishalp Realties, a private developer.

On Saturday, Somaiya, along with other BJP leaders, visited MHB Colony police station, urging the police to lodge a criminal case against Alpesh Ajmera, director of Nishalp Realities and others involved in the deal. Somaiya has sought an FIR for cheating, causing loss to the state exchequer, misrepresentation and collusion under the Indian Penal Code and other relevant laws against those responsible. 

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“The land was declared as a slum. But, the owner never revealed it or even objected to BMC’s process for acquiring the land. The facts were suppressed in the deal. Hence, a case of cheating and misrepresentation should be registered against the developer, his firm and the BMC officials too,” Somaiya told mid-day after his visit to the police station.

In 2022, Chief Minister Ekanth Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had hinted towards a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) inquiry for the alleged violations. This was after a series of news reports by this newspaper and numerous tweets by activist Niraj Gunde urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union home minister Amit Shah and Fadnavis to look into the deal. Accordingly, the CAG inquiry was conducted and in its report, the CAG rapped the BMC for acquisition of 32,395 square metre land for Rs 349 crore. The CAG further cited that encroachment on the land will lead to an additional expenditure of Rs 77.80 crore for rehabilitation of the slum dwellers.

In its report, this paper had broken down how Nishalp Realities bought the plot for Rs 2.55 crore from the Mascarenhas family in 2010. Within a year of the purchase, BMC proposed to purchase the land from Nishalp for Rs 54 crore. However, the BMC’s Improvements Committee rejected the proposal in 2011. The civic administration again tabled another proposal for the purchase of the same land for R349 crore in 2019. However, the then BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi shot down the proposal because of the slum settlements. Despite this, civic administration still went ahead and bought 22,000 square metres of the land for R349 crore, which is a dizzying 13,556 per cent profit when compared to the Rs 2.55 crore that Nishalp paid for it.

Senior Police Inspector Sudhir Kudalkar, MHB Colony police station, and Alpesh Ajmera, director at Nishalp Realities, were not available for comment. However, a person associated with the company stated on condition of anonymity that the details of the allegation were incorrect. The land was not declared a slum, and was not sold to the BMC but acquired by it under the Compulsory Acquisition rule pursuant to the purchase notice issued by the company under the MRTP Act in 2010. 

Further refuting all the charges levelled against Ajmera and the company, the close associate of the company said, “The amount offered was Rs 127 crore, nearly 20 per cent of the ready reckoner rate and even market price of the plot. The total amount of Rs 349 crore is a composite value, which includes Rs 127 crore as the value of the land [or compensation] and another Rs 127 crore as the solatium amount [equivalent to 100 per cent of the compensation amount]. Besides, an additional Rs 95 crore was paid as interest for the 120-month delay in releasing the payment.” On being asked about the BJP demanding an FIR in connection to this case, the person declined to comment, saying that the matter is subjudice. 
 
13,556
Percentage of profit allegedly earned due to the inflated deal

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