Lad seeks apology from Cong leaders over land scam allegations

BJP MLC Prasad Lad today said he has demanded an apology from Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam for their baseless accusations of a land scam allegedly involving him.

"I have issued them a legal notice yesterday. I have demanded an unconditional apology. If they fail to do so, I will file a suit in the court demanding damages of Rs 500 crore for defamation," Lad told PTI.

The former NCP leader who joined the BJP last year said the land in question falls under the jurisdiction of additional collector (rehabilitation) and not even the collector, and no senior revenue official or the chief minister's office was concerned with it.

The allegations were baseless and made only to gain a political mileage, he said.

The Congress leaders, at a press conference on July 2 ahead of the monsoon session of the state legislature, alleged that government land in Navi Mumbai, worth Rs 1,767 crore, was illegally acquired by a private builder for Rs 3.60 crore.

The transaction had the "blessings" of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, they claimed.

The builder was a business partner of Lad, who is a blue-eyed boy of the chief minister, Nirupam had alleged.

The BJP denied the allegations on the same day, terming them as "childish" and made out of desperation.