It seems cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t the only leading citizen to move into his house without acquiring the mandatory occupation certificate (OC) from the BMC.
It seems cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t the only leading citizen to move into his house without acquiring the mandatory occupation certificate (OC) from the BMC. A Mumbai-based NGO has alleged that Republican Party of India (RPI) president and former parliamentarian Ramdas Athawale, too, has been staying in his new bungalow in Bandra (East) since February without first obtaining an OC.
The NGO, Society for Awareness of Civil Rights, has complained to municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar about Athawale breaching the law. It has also alleged that the bungalow land was illegally transferred to the politician’s wife, Seema.
“After a series of Right to Information (RTI) queries, we found that Athawale and his family have been staying in the plush bungalow, Samwidhaan, since February,” said RP Yajurvedi Rao, who chairs the NGO. “The land on which the bungalow has been constructed belongs to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) and was handed over to one Sheela Wadekar in July 2005. As per an April 2002 agreement between Wadekar and Mhada, the land was leased to her for 30 years.”
According to Rao, the agreement clearly says Wadekar cannot sublet, lease or sell the land to anybody without Mhada’s consent. Yet she ‘gifted’ the plot to Athawale’s wife and made her an illegal tenant in January 2007, Rao said. The activist has a copy of the agreement as well as the property card which states that Wadekar gifted the plot to Seema.
Following an RTI query by Rao about the bungalow’s OC, an official in the BMC’s building proposals department said the file had gone missing. “We approached the deputy chief engineer (building proposals) and officials of the H-East ward initially, but they could not give us any information for more than six months. Mhada too failed to give us a copy of the agreement between Seema and the housing authority,” said Rao. “We then filed an RTI application in May. As per our information, Athawale applied for an OC in July.”
RPI spokesperson Avinash Mahatekar insisted Athawale had not violated any rules. “We have all the necessary permissions for construction of the bungalow,” said Mahatekar. Despite repeated attempts, Athawale was unavailable for comment.
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