Confiscating land allotted to MET vindictive, claims Pankaj Bhujbal

The former deputy chief minister and leader of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chhagan Bhujbal and his nephew, Sameer Bhujbal, are still in jail and the government through CIDCO have confiscated land allotted for Educational Purpose for Mumbai Educational Trust (MET) at Sanpada, New Mumbai.

The trustee of Mumbai Educational Trust, Pankaj Bhujbal, also a legislator alleged this action is vindictive. “If this action had to be taken, then why it was not taken earlier. The government wanted to give a blow to Bhujbals and targeted the Bhujbal family with a conspiracy. This action is a clear indication of personal hatred,” said Pankaj.

As per the documents, according to Maharashtra Revenue Rule of 1971, the state government has a ruling to allot land for school and colleges. As per this rule, most of the educational institutions in Maharashtra have been allotted such lands.

As per the land agreement document of October 18, 2003, 3491 sq mts of land in Sector 15, had been allotted to MET through CIDCO. It was allotted to construct a school and junior college and CIDCO had often extended duration for the purpose. Pankaj claimed that CIDCO repeatedly gave extensions with demand of premium. “On September 26, 2016, CIDCO yet again extended time and demanded additional lease premium payment. The trust (MET) had paid the amount for the extension on August 31, 2016. After this extension of time, it had been approved by CIDCO from August 18, 2015 to October 17, 2017 as extension,” he claimed.

In between there had been continuous follow-up and proposals being submitted to get permissions for construction. On September 30, 2017, ‘Bhumi Pujan’ ceremony was performed to start construction and on October 31, 2017, a tender ad published and work had started. However, on November 17, 2017 and recently, on January 10, 2018, CIDCO issued a notice to the trust to return the land.

“These orders are an injustice to the Trust. The land has been allotted with a specific purpose and for educational purpose only. This is a vindictive decision as it has been taken against the Trust,” Pankaj said.

In his statement, Pankaj said Mumbai Educational Trust, has provided quality education to the students with world class educational facilities and infrastructure. It has resulted into making good students with bright careers.

The delay in utilizing this land for educational purpose happened only because of time required to seek various permissions. In reality, such action has been taken only against MET Trust, as in other institutes have delayed construction work on the lands allotted to then but this vindictive action has been taken against us only.