ACB files chargesheet against 24 in 30-year-old land scam

Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has filed a chargesheet in a city court against 24 people, including a former chief of state planning agency CIDCO, in a land scam in the district which dates back to 1984.
The chargesheet was filed by ACB in the court of Thane Additional Sessions Judge M C Khadke yesterday.
The accused include officials of Revenue Department, Co-operation Department, CIDCO and real estate developers, who according to the document, conspired to cause monetary losses to the exchequer.
They were charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
As per the chargesheet, the Government servants misused their designations/posts and indulged in corrupt practices to provide favours to Shree Om Shanti Co-operative Housing Society here nearly three decades ago.

The accused, with the aid of Government servants and officials from state-run CIDCO, entered into a conspiracy to make illegal gains of Rs 1.49 crore.

ACB said a piece of land was allotted to the housing society in July 1984 by CIDCO at the rate of Rs 77 per sq metre when the then market rate was Rs 240 per sq metre.
After obtaining the plot, the society applied to CIDCO for additional land ad-measuring 3,060 sq metres. The CIDCO board approved allotment of extra land in July 1986 at the rate of Rs 100 per sq metre when the market price was Rs 300 per sq metre.

An offence was registered by the anti-corruption agency on December 20, 2010 against 14 public servants and 13 housing society members. The chargesheet has, however, named 24 accused, including L C Gupta, the then Managing Director of CIDCO, who is now dead.
Three other accused, including Govind Ganpat Surve, the then Land Surveyor of CIDCO, and Pyarelal Ramikishore Prajapati, Chairman of the society, died in the course of investigations. Two others, a father-son duo, remain untraceable, the ACB said.