HC orders arrest of Jamnadas Patel for acquiring land worth Rs 15 cr in connivance with govt officials
The noose is tightening around Chief Minister Narendra Modi's close associate and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Dascroi, Babu Jamnadas Patel. The Gujarat High Court has asked the Sarkhej police to register an FIR against the legislator and conduct investigations into a land grabbing case.
The nature of the court order is such that the police would have to arrest Patel and conduct a custodial interrogation. The MLA, according to legal experts dealing in criminal matters, now can't circumvent the legal process and will have to be arrested and interrogated by the police. For, the court has ordered inquiry under Section 156(3) of the CrPC.
Patel has, however, been given four weeks' time to move the Supreme Court against the order.
Earlier, the legislator had allegedly managed to have his way with the police, which did not register a case against him. When complainant Santaben Gabaji Thakore and two others approached a metropolitan court seeking inquiry under Section 156(3) of the CrPC, the court passed inquiry under Section 202 for which lodging of FIR and arrest of the accused is not required. But in the inquiry under Section 156(3), the accused has to be arrested once the FIR is filed.
Reacting to the court order, Patel defended himself and said it was an old case and he was ready to face any inquiry.
According to details of the case, Patel had fraudulently acquired 34,000 square metres of land valued at over Rs 15 crore in connivance with the state government officials. He is accused of acquiring the land belonging to Scheduled Caste and other people of backward classes in Ambli village on the outskirts of the city. He had managed to get the ownership of the land by arranging for a fake power of attorney in his name in 2000, when he was the chairman of the Ahmedabad Agricultural Marketing Produce Committee.
As the land belonged to the 'new tenure', which is non-transferable, the legislator moved an application before the deputy collector of Viramgam for converting it into the 'old tenure' that allows transfer and sale. The then deputy collector B G Patel, after converting the land into the 'old tenure' in violation of rules, issued orders for land transfer. Subsequently, the legislator transferred the land to his son and other members of his family.
The land conversion rules, according to advocates, require payment of premium to the state government. However, the deputy collector in this case undervalued the premium amount, leading to a huge revenue loss to the government.
The 'fraud' had come to light when the then Ahmedabad district collector and magistrate D Thara had reviewed the matter of the transfer of land from 'new tenure' to 'old tenure'. In her order, she stated that there appeared to be a malafide intention on the part of the government officials to dupe the state of its revenue in the shape of premium, and the deputy collector and magistrate passed the orders changing the status of the land on basis of "forged" documents.
She also pointed out that the state government had lost revenue of nearly Rs 70 crore because of Viramgam deputy collector undervaluing the premium amount. This, according to her, was done to benefit the land-grabbers who had acquired the land belonging to other persons as well, besides that of the complainant in this case.
Though Thara had indicted Viramgam deputy collector and others involved in the fraud, she did not initiate any action against them nor did she take up the matter with senior revenue department officials. She was transferred after some time. Meanwhile, bungalows have been constructed on the land that was transferred to SN Builders by the legislator's son and relatives.
Courtesy : www.indianexpress.com
The noose is tightening around Chief Minister Narendra Modi's close associate and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Dascroi, Babu Jamnadas Patel. The Gujarat High Court has asked the Sarkhej police to register an FIR against the legislator and conduct investigations into a land grabbing case.
The nature of the court order is such that the police would have to arrest Patel and conduct a custodial interrogation. The MLA, according to legal experts dealing in criminal matters, now can't circumvent the legal process and will have to be arrested and interrogated by the police. For, the court has ordered inquiry under Section 156(3) of the CrPC.
Patel has, however, been given four weeks' time to move the Supreme Court against the order.
Earlier, the legislator had allegedly managed to have his way with the police, which did not register a case against him. When complainant Santaben Gabaji Thakore and two others approached a metropolitan court seeking inquiry under Section 156(3) of the CrPC, the court passed inquiry under Section 202 for which lodging of FIR and arrest of the accused is not required. But in the inquiry under Section 156(3), the accused has to be arrested once the FIR is filed.
Reacting to the court order, Patel defended himself and said it was an old case and he was ready to face any inquiry.
According to details of the case, Patel had fraudulently acquired 34,000 square metres of land valued at over Rs 15 crore in connivance with the state government officials. He is accused of acquiring the land belonging to Scheduled Caste and other people of backward classes in Ambli village on the outskirts of the city. He had managed to get the ownership of the land by arranging for a fake power of attorney in his name in 2000, when he was the chairman of the Ahmedabad Agricultural Marketing Produce Committee.
As the land belonged to the 'new tenure', which is non-transferable, the legislator moved an application before the deputy collector of Viramgam for converting it into the 'old tenure' that allows transfer and sale. The then deputy collector B G Patel, after converting the land into the 'old tenure' in violation of rules, issued orders for land transfer. Subsequently, the legislator transferred the land to his son and other members of his family.
The land conversion rules, according to advocates, require payment of premium to the state government. However, the deputy collector in this case undervalued the premium amount, leading to a huge revenue loss to the government.
The 'fraud' had come to light when the then Ahmedabad district collector and magistrate D Thara had reviewed the matter of the transfer of land from 'new tenure' to 'old tenure'. In her order, she stated that there appeared to be a malafide intention on the part of the government officials to dupe the state of its revenue in the shape of premium, and the deputy collector and magistrate passed the orders changing the status of the land on basis of "forged" documents.
She also pointed out that the state government had lost revenue of nearly Rs 70 crore because of Viramgam deputy collector undervaluing the premium amount. This, according to her, was done to benefit the land-grabbers who had acquired the land belonging to other persons as well, besides that of the complainant in this case.
Though Thara had indicted Viramgam deputy collector and others involved in the fraud, she did not initiate any action against them nor did she take up the matter with senior revenue department officials. She was transferred after some time. Meanwhile, bungalows have been constructed on the land that was transferred to SN Builders by the legislator's son and relatives.
Courtesy : www.indianexpress.com