29 April,2011 06:14 AM IST | | Vivek Sabnis
After HC directs CBI to identify owner of city house in connection with Adarsh scam, part-time resident Dy CM Ajit Pawar claims he's merely a tenant
A plushu00a0city bungalow of which deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar is a tenant could well have some connection with the Adarsh society scam. The Bombay High Court has directed the CBI to find out who is the real owner of the bungalow after allegations were made that Pawar's wife Sunetra and two other members of Adarsh Society -- Jayashree Bhosale and Nivrutti Bhosale -- mentioned Jijai bungalow at 21 Bhosale Nagar as their address in a city court.
Standing guard: A police van at the entrance of a bylane that leads to
Jijai bungalow, which is under heavy police bandobast after the
high court directive
The matter came to the fore during the hearing of a PIL on Pawar's alleged involvement in the Adarsh scam on Wednesday. RTI activist Ravi Barate, who filed the PIL, said Sunetra had submitted an application to a civil court in Pune where she had mentioned Jijai as her address.
After the deputy chief minister's wife mentioned the bungalow as her address, speculations are rife that Pawar, who claims to be a mere tenant of Jijai, might be the owner of the property.
But the Deputy Chief Minister has categorically said that he is just a tenant. "I made a rental contract with Avinash Bhosale, the owner of Jijai bungalow, since 2009 in the name of my teenage son Parth. Rs 50,000 per month are the remuneration I am paying to Bhosale. My wife has made an affidavit to the court on the same address," he said.
According to sources, the Pawars stay only two to three nights in a month here. The bungalow is under heavy police bandobast following the high court directive. Two striking-force vans were seen parked outside the controversial property. Besides, a bylane along the bungalow was cordoned off and police were questioning everyone entering the stretch.
Police constable R B Bhandwalkar, on the bandobast duty, said that usually Pawar along with his family visits the bungalow on Fridays or Saturdays. "Our seniors had asked us to do bandobast duty till the late evening at Jijai bungalow," Bhandwalkar.
His other colleagues were neither allowed to go near the bungalow nor they permitted to take pictures. He was not sure whether Pawar or his family would come today. Barate said, "Pawar has a habit of denying facts when things go awry. Who will believe he is paying Rs 50,000 rent for his underage son to stay at Jijai? His claim of being a mere tenant at Jijai does not stand; it is a misleading statement."
Sena holds protests
Around 800 activists yesterday staged demonstrations in three different places across the city, demanding Ajit Pawar step down as the deputy chief minister over his alleged involvement in the Adarsh scam. Nana Wadekar, Shiv Sena city president, said that Pawar has now no right to cling on to the post of deputy chief minister.
