Pune, February 10 A firm belonging to Parth Pawar, the son of the late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, has appealed against the notice from the Maharashtra Registration Department, which demanded that they pay stamp duty of Rs 21 crore for the sale deed of a plot of land in Mundhwa, Pune, by Tuesday.
The department, in a previous order, had asked Amadea Enterprises LLP and its partner, Digvijay Patil, to pay the stamp duty, which had been waived during the execution of the sale deed for the 40-acre government land.
"The deadline to pay the stamp duty is February 10. The firm has filed an appeal challenging the order. Now, there will be a hearing before the Inspector General of Registration (IGR)," a senior official from the department said on Monday.
The official did not elaborate on the grounds for challenging the original order seeking Rs 21 crore.
When asked what action could be initiated if the stamp duty is not paid, he said that there are established procedures, such as 'revenue recovery', which involves seizing and attaching bank accounts and immovable property.
The deal worth Rs 300 crore to sell the 40-acre plot to Amadea Enterprises LLP came under scrutiny after it emerged that the land belonged to the government, and the firm was exempted from paying the stamp duty.
Shital Tejwani, who held a power of attorney for 272 "original landowners" of the land, executed the sale deed and sold the property to Amadea Enterprises LLP despite knowing that the land belonged to the government and could not be sold. Sub-Registrar Ravindra Taru is alleged to have facilitated the sale deed.
An FIR was registered against Patil, Tejwani, and Taru by officials from the IGR office for allegedly evading stamp duty.
The district administration also registered a case against Patil, Tejwani, and suspended tehsildar Suryakant Yeole for allegedly executing the sale deed despite knowing that the land belonged to the government. The FIR was registered with the Khadak police station and is currently being investigated by the Pune police's Economic Offences Wing.