Senior BJP leader and housing minister Prakash Mehta. Picture courtesy Twitter
Senior BJP leader and housing minister Prakash Mehta seems to be in serious trouble after Maharashtra governor CH Vidyasagar Rao asked the Lokayukta to investigate into the permissions him with regard to the slum rehabilitation scheme at M.P. Mill Compound in Mumbai.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had requested the governor to issue a direction to the Lokayukta to investigate into the matter.
In a letter to the Governor, the chief minister had stated that he had made a statement before both the Houses of Legislature saying that in regard to the allegations against Mehta pertaining to grant of permission in the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme at the MP Mill Compound at Tardeo locality in Mumbai, an inquiry would be entrusted to the Lokayukta of Maharashtra.
The Governor ordered investigation under Sub Section (3) of Section 17 of the Maharashtra Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta Act, 1971, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said.
Mehta had allegedly permitted the transfer of building rights (TDR) due to slumdwellers to a building for project affected people in violation of development control (DC) norms. The move facilitated generation of additional building rights in favour of a builder to the tune of Rs 700 to Rs 800 crore.
During the monsoon session of the legislature, the opposition Congress and NCP demanded the resignation of Mehta or his sacking and a judicial probe against him.
Mehta had wrongly mentioned on the file of the project that he had kept the chief minister in loop about the transfer, which was denied by Fadnavis. In fact, the chief minister also wants his name cleared from the controversy.
The noting - “I have apprised the CM” has caused troube for Fadnavis. The government has said the CM was never apprised about the project; Mehta too later admitted that the file had not been brought before the CM.