The Bombay High Court on Thursday appointed a chartered accountant to see if flats "" built by a company on land exempted under the Urban Land Ceiling Act at suburban Kandivli "" were sold at exorbitant rates as alleged in a PIL. | |
| The land in question measured 163 acres, but the state government in 1986 declared that 106 acres were surplus. |
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| Fifty-eight acres of land were ordered to be turned over to the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (MHADA), a government body, for low-cost housing. |
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| However, the remaining 48 acres of surplus land was not acquired, and the company, Conwood Builders, which had bought it, was allowed to develop it with the condition that 25 per cent of the flats would be sold to people from economically weaker sections at a low cost. |
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| Accordingly, a huge colony of over 60 buildings came up on the land. However, city-based NGO Akhil Bhartiya Bhrashtachar Nirmulan Samitee, filed a PIL in the High Court alleging that the remaining 75 per cent of flats "" to be sold in open market "" were sold at exorbitant rates, violating the formula prescribed by a 1990 government regulation. |
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| The accusation was endorsed in an affidavit filed by principal secretay (urban development) in the court today. |
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| Therefore, a division bench of Justices R M Lodha and S A Bobde appointed a chartered accountant to look into the allegation and decide whether the flats were sold at excess rates. The auditor is to file the report by January 15. |
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