CM admits fraud in Mumbai’s Patliputra housing complex

Pushed into a corner by the opposition, Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan yesterday admitted in the state assembly that the Patliputra Housing Society in Mumbai, promoted by top administration and police officers, had flouted rules.

Asked repeatedly by opposition members why the government was reluctant to initiate action against the promoters, Chavan said he would see if a case could be registered against the society's office-bearers.

The Patlipura Society in the fairly upmarket Four Bunglows area of Lokhandwala Complex at Andheri comprises two 13-storey buildings. It was allotted to the society members in 1999 under government rules that only 15 per cent of the land could be used for commercial purposes.

However, more than 15 per cent of the land has been used for commercial purposes, and instead of small shops for which the permission was given, the society allowed a shopping area that could be used for a mall.

Chavan said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had conducted an inspection of the Kamdhenu shopping complex on 29 June 2010 and found clear violations of the sanctioned plan.

The Versova police have already filed a first information report (FIR) against the promoters of Kamdhenu for demolishing internal walls of 12 smaller convenience stores to create space for two big malls. Now, Chavan has more or less vowed to file a similar FIR against the society itself.