The Maharashtra government on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that several files related to the allotment of flats under the Chief Minister’s discretionary quota were not traceable.
Public prosecutor Jayesh Yagnik told a division Bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Reveti Mohite-Dhere that nearly 1,300 files of the Housing department and an additional number of the Urban Development department were not traceable. Some of the missing files date back to 1982.
While these are just “approximate figures,” as Mr. Yagnik later told The Hindu , the State has been directed to submit a final count of the missing files to the court in two weeks.
The government made the disclosure during the hearing on a PIL petition by activist Ketan Tirodkar alleging flats under the government quota were being illegally allotted to the same people.
Taking a serious view of the State’s revelations, the Bench asked why the details about the missing files were not brought on record when the court passed an order in October 2014, appointing retired Judge J.A. Patil to probe the alleged irregularities.
“The only way to solve this matter is to issue contempt notices,” the court remarked.
The government also said that 1,200 double allottees had voluntarily surrendered their flats and the State had taken police action against 300 allottees.
“This shows the magnitude of the problem and that maximum allotments are illegal,” the court said.
It directed the secretaries of Housing and Urban Development departments to file affidavits in two weeks on the number of missing files, number of surrendered flats and complete details of the beneficiaries and the action taken by the government.
