Thaindian News

Mumbai, Feb 22 (ANI): The Bombay High Court on Tuesday handed over the investigation into the Pune land grab scam case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Hearing a PIL filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Madhav Bhandari that alleged that bogus orders were passed under Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCA) to avoid surrendering excess land to the state, the court ordered the formation of a Special Investigating Team (SIT) of the CBI to look into the matter.

The court said that the SIT will have the authority to question bureaucrats and politicians in connection with the case.

Earlier on February 7, the court terming the Pune land grab scam as ‘larger than the 2G spectrum scam’, said it was inclined to direct Maharashtra Government to transfer investigations into the case to CBI.

The scam was unearthed in 2005 when the Pune Deputy Collector’s office received a forged and fabricated certificate under the Act, declaring a plot near Pune as non-surplus.

An individual can hold only 500 sq mt of land in an urban area under the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act. Rest of the land is declared surplus, but it can be regularised if the owner surrenders five per cent of total land to government.

A certificate declaring land to be non-surplus is then issued. (ANI)