Land scam: Police complaint against ex-Maha CM Devendra Fadnavis, Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit

A police complaint was filed on Tuesday against former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit and former Power Minister of Maharashtra, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, for allegedly “forging documents” in order to acquire 10 acre land worth Rs 50 crore in Nagpur.

Seeking registration of an FIR against all three, the complainant, Satish Uke alleged that “Fadnavis and Purohit are close to each other and they had misused their position in politics to benefit each other”.

The land in question, which actually belonged to Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), was transferred to Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir – a trust run by Purohit, by forging documents, claimed Uke. “Ex-CM Fadnavis was in the know of the fraud,” he said.

Records accessed by National Herald show that the 10-acre land, which was acquired by the government to establish a power station, was transferred to Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir Trust in November 2015.

As per the digital records comprising registry documents and deeds, the possession letter was handed over to the trust at 3 pm on November 3, 2015. Surprisingly, it was also annexed with the lease deed submitted to the online portal of the revenue department at around 2.45 pm the same day...“Which means the possession letter was readied much before it was handed over to the trust, while as per the procedure, it should have been handed over after the registration process completes,” said Uke over the phone.

In his complaint, Uke sought action under Sections 467 (forging documents), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the IPC against Fadnavis, Banwarilal Purohit and Chandrashekhar Bawankule besides others.

Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir Trust runs an English medium Senior Secondary School affiliated to the CBSE. “Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir is to nurture the future of generation to become confident, competent and sensitive global citizens by providing quality education and conducive environment and including Indian values, ethics, gender equality sense of accountability through creativity, co-operation and continual improvement,” reads the website of the trust.

It is worth recalling here that Purohit, who owns a newspaper called ‘The Hitavad’, was embroiled in a sex scandal two years back in 2018 when an assistant professor at a private college under Madurai Kamaraj University was arrested after an audio-tape of her encouraging students to please higher officials in return for marks and money had become public.

Though Purohit had denied any link with the woman, political parties had alleged the involvement of Governor. In the audio clip, the assistant professor claimed to know Purohit, who is the chancellor of the university. “I am 78 and have grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You can’t ask me such questions,” Purohit had cited in his defence.