Maha govt asked to reply over hsg soc land reserved for cops

Bombay High Court today directed the Maharashtra government to file its reply to a PIL seeking CID probe into alleged fraudulent allotment of six plots of land, reserved for police personnel, to a group of legislators and bureaucrats at Worli Sagar housing society here.
A division bench of Justices P V Hardas and Ajey Gadkari, which was hearing a PIL filed by former journalist Ketan Tirodkar, sought government's response within two weeks.
The PIL relies on a reply by state Home department to a query under Right to Information. In 1988, the state acquired six plots in Worli Sagar Society in Central Mumbai's Worli area, in lieu of another piece of land in suburban Andheri for police housing.

The Worli Sagar land was originally meant for police personnel. Tirodkar alleged that the land admeasuring 48,560 square metres at Ambivali in Andheri was never used to provide housing to police personnel.
He prayed that the Director General of Police (Housing) be directed to evacuate the buildings standing on plots in Worli Sagar Society, and allot the tenements to lower-rank policemen on the basis of seniority.
Constables work under difficult conditions, such as low salaries, long duty-hours, poor housing facilities, etc, and therefore they should be given priority in such benefits, the PIL contended.