Pune land grab case larger than 2G spectrum scam: Bombay HC

Mumbai, Feb 7 (PTI) Terming the Pune land grab scam as"larger than the 2G spectrum scam", the Bombay High Courttoday said it was inclined to direct Maharashtra government totransfer investigations into the case to CBI.

A division bench of Justices B H Marlapalle and U D Salvigave the government time till February 10 to clear its standand directed the Advocate General to appear before it.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by BJP spokespersonMadhav Bhandari alleging that bogus documents were used andorders passed under the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act(ULCA).

"This is bigger than the 2G scam... The court is inclinedto transfer the case to CBI," the court remarked.

The scam was unearthed in 2005 when the Pune deputycollector''s office received a forged and fabricatedcertificate under the Act, declaring a plot near Pune asnon-surplus.

According to the petition, Yogesh Mhase, officer onspecial duty to former deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, wasalso involved in the scam.

The High Court had on the last hearing directed theadditional collector and competent authorities to registerFIRs in 18 cases where bogus orders were used.

Of the 29 files shortlisted, FIRs have been filed in 11cases. The government had then sought six weeks time toscrutinise the remaining 18 files.