Maharashtra state Agriculture minister Abdul Sattar said that there was no ulterior motive in his order for regularisation of land reserved for public gairan in favour of a private person in the face of a cvil court order, and said his decision has not caused any loss to the government exchequer. Making a statement in the state Assembly, an emotional Sattar said whatever decision the high court gives in the matter will be acceptable to him.
His statement comes two days after both the Houses of Maharashtra legislature were adjourned after the opposition stalled the proceedings demanding Sattar’s resignation the order passed by him when he was a minister in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray.
Sattar said it appears that when the matter came to his notice, the land in question was owned by Yogesh Ramesh Khandare, a resident of Gawlipur in Washim, his father, grandfather and even great grandfather from 1946 to 1993. It also has a reference that the land was used for sowing from 1946-47 to 1952.
My order (dated June 17 2022) has not benefited anyone or it has not led to loss of exchequer to the government, Sattar said, adding that his order has not been executed till date and no changes have been made in the land records.
Last week, the Bombay High Court had issued a notice to Sattar for ordering ‘regularisation’ of the land. The bench was hearing a petition filed against the order Sattar had passed in June 2022 when he was the revenue minister. As per the petition, a public utility land meant for grazing measuring 37 acres was ‘regularised’ in favour of a private person.
This was done even after the claim of this private person had been rejected by the civil appellate court, said the petitioner who was represented by advocate Sunil Manohar.