MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 10: Former Chief Minister Manohar Joshi should be issued a notice for alleged criminal breach of trust in the Pune land scam, demanded D S Bhonde, advocate for Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) corporator, Nitin Jagtap.Bhonde, arguing before a division bench of Justice B B Srikrishna and Justice S S Parkar, said similar notices had been issued by the Supreme Court to the concerned ministers in the allotment of petrol pumps to Captain Satish Sharma. Notices can be issued to Joshi and others as well, he argued. Bhonde also demanded an inquiry against the then Commissioner Ramnath Jha and City Engineer Madhav Harihar.
Supporting the arguments of advocate Vinod Bobde, who concluded his submissions earlier in the day, Bhonde said the CM alone had passed the order pertaining to his son-in-law, Girish Vyas. However, he suggested that the buildings built by Vyas should not be demolished, but the PMC should be directed to take possession of the plot and the building.
As per the MaharashtraRegional Town Planning act, said Bhonde, the Commissioner of Pune does not have the power to enter into an agreement with the developer. Under section 157 of this Act, the commissioner should have taken the permission of the corporation's general body before dereserving the plot. But in this case, the general body was kept in the dark, alleged Bhonde.He also said the allotment had been carried out by the Commissioner of Pune, City Engineer and Vyas. PMC officials should have taken legal advice before signing the agreement, he stated. Legal opinion was sought but suppressed on the orders of the government, claimed Bhonde. Justice Srikrishna then assured Bhonde, ``Assuming you are right, a committee will be appointed to inquire into the matter. It is debatable whether anything will come out of it in the first place.''
Earlier Bobde, counsel for petitioner and journalist Vijay Kumbhar, told the court that an enquiry should be conducted against those guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Dr DhananjayChandrachud, counsel for PMC who began his submissions today, told the court that the reservation of the plot lapsed on April 14, 1996. There was no need for another school in the area as there were already 11 schools, he added.
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