BJP MLA accuses Wadettiwar of cheating, forgery in land deal

Nagpur: Chimur MLA Kirtikumar Bhangadia has moved the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court against state relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar, accusing him of illegally selling land allotted to his society for an engineering college. The land was purchased by Mohan Gaikwad, who is now running an international school there.

The petitioner demanded directives to the police and state government to register FIR against the minister for cheating and forgery.

A division bench comprising justices Zaka Haq and Shreeram Modak on Tuesday issued notices returnable in six weeks to the respondents, including state home department, commissioner of police and superintendent (rural), Butibori police station in-charge and inspector.

The Chimur BJP MLA through counsel Shreerang Bhandarkar contended that the state revenue and forest department allotted 25 acres at mouza Dongargaon to Semana Vidya Vanvikas Prashikshan Mandal for setting up an engineering college on January 15, 2008.

The trust, run by Bramhapuri MLA Wadettiwar, started VM Institute of Engineering and Technology (VMIT) in 2009-10. Trouble started after 2013, when Nagpur University blacklisted the college and stopped admissions for operating without a single full-time teacher and infrastructure. Subsequently, on November 1, 2014, Wadettiwar sold the land to Gaikwad, chairman of Gaikwad-Patil Group of Institutions, which runs a couple of engineering colleges in the city.

The petitioner contended that the entire sale took place through forgery and unethical practices to cheat and defraud the trust. The minister allegedly controlled the unlawful sale for Rs22 crore, and the transactions took place keeping other trustees in the dark. Even their signatures were forged in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between two parties, Bhangadia claimed.

A trustee, Jayant Gangreddiwar, had lodged a complaint with then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on May 26, 2017, alleging forgery in the land deal and misuse of property, and praying for a thorough inquiry.

Later, the petitioner raised the issue with Fadnavis and former revenue minister Chandrakant Patil through a letter on March 26, 2018. He also issued legal notice to CP, SP (rural) and Butibori police officials for lodging FIR against Wadettiwar, but nothing progressed, forcing him to approach the judiciary.

The petitioner pointed out that Wadettiwar, former leader of opposition, had also breached conditions laid down by the collector while sanctioning the building construction on the allotted land on March 26, 2008. The sanction stipulated that construction shouldn’t be more than 1/5th of the plot area and limited to ground plus one floor. However, the VMIT building was built with ground plus three floors.