Bharatiya Janata Party MP and actor Hema Malini is yet to return her plot in Versova to the State government. Ms Malini’s trust had demanded a 1,741.89 square metre plot in Versova to set up a dance school. However, the trust sought another plot as the land fell in Coastal Zone Regulation area. A 2,000 square metre plot located at Ambivli in Andheri was then given to the actor for Rs 70,000, as revealed by an RTI inquiry. The market value of the plot is estimated to be Rs 50 crore.
Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse on Tuesday said the process to retrieve the plot in Versova was in progress. “The land was allotted to her earlier, but she could not use it since it fell under the Coastal Regulation Zone. So she asked for another plot and we gave it.”
Another RTI query has revealed that the actor had received a show cause notice by the then Mumbai Suburban Collector on August 28, 1998. The notice questioned why the letter of intent issued for the allotment should not be cancelled for cutting mangroves in violation of CRZ norms. “The Revenue Department should penalise the actor if there have been any violations,” said Anil Galgali, who filed the RTI query with the Mumbai Suburban Collector.
The Revenue Department, through its letter dated January 3, 1997, had issued orders to the Collector to hand over the Versova plot with a written undertaking from the trust that it will pay the total cost of the land. The possession of the plot was given to the trust on April 4, 1997 and it paid Rs 10 lakh on January 2, 2002.
