The case has been going on for a while now. It has been alleged that the officers of The Defense Ministry (Central Government) have been filing false statements in court concerning the Lohegaon defence land.
The High court has now ordered an inquiry against the Central Government Officials.
The land near New Airport Road that connects the Ahmednagar highway is huge…69.23 acres and is estimated at Rs.1000 crore.
This piece of land is now in possession of the Army. The Renowned builder Harish Milani has been acquitted by a CBI court in connection with the defence land grab. He has filed a case in Pune court for getting possession of the land. However, a writ petition against the builder’s plea has been filed by the Defence Estate Officer, Pune on behalf of the Union of India.
Mr. Harish Milani is now demanding an inquiry against the officials for false information/documents. He has filed a writ petition under section 340 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC).
The Defence official has denied any false statements being made and has asked for the writ petition to be heard first. According to him the proceedings in the court are unnecessarily being stalled.
In the words of the council – “Filing of such civil application is an attempt on the part of respondent (Milani) to continue to be in unlawful possession of the suit land, as respondent knows that the hearing of the application filed under Section 340 CPC, which is baseless and false, is going to consume time of the court.”
Harish Milani’s son Manish Harish Milani’s response on behalf of his father is, “The court has already acquitted my father. Now, we want the land to be in our possession but the defence officials have unnecessarily challenged our application in the High Court, knowing that they have made false statements in the case.”
The Case details
The disputed land near Lohegaon has been in the possession of the Military since 1981, according to the CBI and land survey no. 233A. However, the military failed to produce the actual documents of acquisition of land in the court. In 1917 the agency had submitted a gazette notification of the governments intent to acquire the land for the Military.
In the ownership column in the 7/12 record, it has been stated ‘military kade’ (towards military)
A Kevin Pinto along with his father had purchased the land and then sold it to Mr. Milani in 1980. The sale not being registered earlier Mr. Milani got it registered in 2008.
Although the trial court had found it all suspicious, the court had acquitted all the accused, Mr. Milani, defence, and the State government officials in 2016.