Govt settling scores, says Bhujbal son

MUMBAI: Former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal's son and Nandgaon MLA Pankaj Bhujbal on Thursday said the government decision to confiscate land given to Mumbai Education Trust (MET) in Girnare village was an attempt to settle political scores and "unwarranted".
"There are many such lands, which the state government has given to the various organisations for construction of educational facilities and many have crossed their deadlines for the construction and completion.But the action is only against the MET on which the Bhujbals are trustees," said Pankaj, who is also the trustee of MET, said.
Trying to make his point, Pankaj said the delay by the government to give the land to the MET and then to remove encroachments were the major reasons for delay in construction activity. He added that the construction was being carried out in the prescribed format, without any violation of norms. Hence, there was no chance for the government to confiscate the land.
"The MET was given 4.13 hectare in 2004. But considering the fact that only 0.2 floor space index (FSI) was available for construction, which was too small for education set-up, we demanded additional five hectares from the government. The government finally handed over the land in 2009, but that had encroachment. Hence, our activity was delayed," Pankaj said.
The MET was given the land in 2012 and this is in the government records and cannot be denied. "We had already lost three valuable years of construction. We presented the facts to the government and pleaded for extension of permission to complete the construction activity. In normal course, the permission is extended. In our case, politics plays an upper hand," Bhujbal claimed.
He said he would seek justice in the court of law. "Given the facts, the government plea will not stand in the court of law. Hence, we will seek justice from the court now. We are confident of the judiciary doing justice to us," Bhujbal said.