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Govt stakes claim on PAL-Peugeot land

In yet another twist in the tale, the state government on Tuesday staked claim on 75 per cent on part of the 72 hectare property of PAL-Peugeot Ltd in Kalyan-Dombivali.

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In yet another twist in the tale, the state government on Tuesday staked claim on 75 per cent on part of the 72 hectare property of PAL-Peugeot Ltd in Kalyan-Dombivali.

In an affidavit submitted to the Bombay High Court, the government has said that 28.79 ha of the property is cattle-grazing land belonging to the state government and 75 per cent of the proceeds of the proposed auction of this portion should go to it. The affidavit was submitted by Ramnath Karad, revenue officer of Kalyan taluka.

The auction of the land that was earlier scheduled on November 27, was deferred to December 10 after Citra Developers Ltd, one of the eight bidders for the property,  moved a stay application seeking a clarification on the conditions laid down before the bidders.

The court then adjourned the case till Tuesday. On Tuesday after assistant government pleader GW Mattos submitted the affidavit, Justice SJ Vajifdar posted the case for a hearing on December 13 and further deferred the auction to January 15, 2008.

Karad, in his affidavit, has mentioned that village panchayats of Gharivali, Usarghar and Sandap had sold the land to Premier Automobile Ltd in 1966-68 without seeking prior permission of the government.  This came to the notice of the divisional officer of Thane in 2004.

After an advertisement about the auction appeared in a regional newspaper on November 27, the government officers made it a point to examine their records and put forward their contention through the affidavit filed.

As per the affidavit, the 28.79 hectares land, classified by the government as Class II Occupancy Land under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code Rules (Volume II), entitles the government to 75% of the proceedings on that land as unearned income.

In the advertisements in the newspaper, Karad says, the land was wrongly declared as freehold. “The auction cannot proceed on the basis of incorrect information that the land is allegedly freehold land. The government cannot be deprived of its rightful dues”, Karad’s affidavit says.

A debate had stirred up among bidders on November 27 after the court receiver announced that the property was encumbered for a liability of Rs354 crore. The court will hear the application on December 13. Vimal Shah, MD of Akruti City who is bidding along with Delhi-based DLF, said, “We were not aware of the state claiming a part of the auction proceedings. However, we are not going to withdraw our bid”.

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