Pune: The attachment of a
land in Hinjewadi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not only left 85
techies and their families in the lurch but has also exposed the communication
gap between the central agencies and state authorities.
The software professionals and their kin were served the eviction notice by the ED, Mumbai, in relation to a housing project constructed on the land measuring 0.83 hectare in Hinjewadi. The ED had in 2013
attached the land in a money laundering case. The project, Scrum Utkarsh housing cooperative, comprising 140 flats in three multi-storey buildings, is located near Le Royale hotel on Maan Road.
Settlement commissioner S Chockalingam on Thursday said the central agencies often do not inform the state authorities about attachment of properties. "As a result, the changes are not reflected in the 7/12 extract that establishes ownership of land and shows whether the title is clear," he said.
The Maharashtra Land Revenue Code rules clearly state that the central agencies have to inform the tehsildar concerned in writing whenever a property is attached.
The settlement commissioner said the central agencies usually publish a notification in the media and do not inform the collector concerned to make the necessary amendments in the ownership documents. He added that if a property is under dispute, the entry as furnished by the authority has to be made in the "other rights" column.
This loophole has landed the techies in the housing society in trouble as the search report of the land showed it to be a clear title. Officials in the district administration said they would have to check details of the the specific case. "Unless there are specific directions from the central or the state authorities about any property, the changes cannot be made," a senior revenue official said.
"We have repeatedly told them issuing a notice in the media is not enough and they need to give us specific directions as per the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code rules, so that we can make a mention in the ownership extracts," the official said.
The ED had stated in its complaint that the land was provisionally attached in March 2013 during the course of a money laundering probe against a Mumbai-based businessman and his group of companies. An adjudicating authority under the Prevention of Money laundering Act confirmed the provisional attachment in July 2013.
Following a probe and registration of original complaint before the adjudicating authority for PMLA, the latter confirmed the provisional attachment in July 2013. However, the businessman sold the land to a realty firm in September 2013 despite the attachment orders, it alleged.
In September 2015, the ED wrote to the inspector general of registrations (IGR) and controller of stamps in Pune to stop registering any fresh sale transaction relating to flats in the project in view of the attachment orders.
The FIR further stated that as part of a conspiracy, the realty firm, in connivance with the sub-registrars offices, sold the land to the Hindavi Swarajya Corporation Pvt Ltd, a company set up by 100-odd software professionals which developed the project and sold the flats.
