Sub-registrar held in Pune land deal

Sub-registrar Ravindra Taru, who was suspended after irregularities emerged in the Mundhwa land deal in Pune, was arrested on Sunday by Pimpri Chinchwad police, an official said.

The case deals with the fraudulent sale of a 40-acre government plot to a firm in which Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's son Parth is a partner.

"A case was lodged against Ravindra Balkrushna Taru on the complaint of Joint District Registrar Santosh Hingane at Bavdhan police station. He was arrested today," Pimpri Chinchwad Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishal Gaikwad said.

An inquiry report of a committee headed by Rajendra Muthe, Joint Inspector General of Registration (IGR), stated that Taru (58) processed the sale deed on May 19 this year using a critical loophole in the registration system.

Taru used the "skip" option in the e-mutation process to register a sale deed for government-owned land in Mundhwa, classifying it as "movable property" to bypass the mandatory verification procedures, the report said.

As per police, land was illegally sold to Parth Pawar's Amadea Enterprises LLP for Rs 300 crore, despite the property's estimated market value of Rs 1,800 crore.

"Sub-registrar Taru failed to verify this crucial fact, thereby violating Section 18 of Registration Act 1908. This section explicitly requires registrars to verify ownership status before registering any property transaction, particularly when government land is involved," the investigation report said.

The report also names Amadea Enterprises LLP Digvijay Patil, as well as Shital Tejwani, who acted as power of attorney holder and sold the land. She has since been arrested.

Taru's arrest comes on the eve of the Maharashtra legislature's Winter session in Nagpur.