NIT ‘illegally’ extended lease of Rashtrabhasha Samiti: NGO

Nagpur: Alleging discrepancy while extending the lease of Maharashtra Hindi Rashtrabhasha Samiti for 30 years, an NGO has shot off a letter to Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) chairman. Octogenarian
Raising objection to the NIT’s move, Citizen’s Forum for Equality president Madhukar Kukde, 84, claimed the extension was granted illegally and without seeking a green signal from the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court. He warned that if the NIT failed to cancel the extension, he would resort to hunger strike.
Refuting all allegations levelled by Kukde, NIT chairman Manoj Suryawanshi told TOI there was no stay from any court on extending lease. “There is nothing illegal in NIT extending the lease to the samiti,” he said.
The NGO had filed a case in the HC in 2012 contending that NIT had leased out the land to Rashtrabhasha Samiti for promotion of Hindi language by bypassing mandatory provisions of Land Disposal Rules, 1986. It had claimed that the land was leased out at a meagre premium of Rs30 lakh for 30 years by the NIT in 2007 without conducting auction.
“The land was later sub-leased and the interest was transferred to several parties through various agreements to which NIT was not a party. The samiti also inked development pact with a developer and sold the land to a group of hospitals for Rs65 crore. The group further leased 22,000 square feet to another hospital chain for Rs33 lakh per year,” the NGO had claimed while alleging a loss of Rs100 crore to the exchequer due to the illegal leasing out of the government land.
In his letter, Kukde claimed during a public hearing, the mandate was given not to grant direct lease extension to the samiti unless auction is conducted. “The dispute is pending with the HC and Supreme Court. The HC had not granted any consent to give extension to the samiti. The NIT’s decision to extend the lease for 30 years without auction is highly objectionable. Had auction been conducted, the NIT would have benefited by Rs50 lakh,” he said.