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3w ago

Mumbai Special Court Clears Hiranandani Group in Powai Land Probe

Judge S E Bangar found no criminal breach of the tripartite agreement after repeated ACB investigations, dismissing a challenge to the closure report

Under the Powai Area Development Scheme (PADS), the state had handed over 233 acres on an 80-year lease at a rate of 40 paise per acre, in return for constructing affordable housing
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Overview

  • On June 2, the special court accepted the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s second closure report in the decade-old Powai Area Development Scheme case, effectively ending corruption proceedings.
  • Special Judge S E Bangar concluded that the investigation uncovered no evidence of criminal misconduct or conspiracy by Niranjan Hiranandani, former urban development secretary Thomas Benjamin or other public officials.
  • The court noted full compliance with the 1986 tripartite agreement, highlighting construction of 1,511 flats of 40 sq m and 887 flats of 80 sq m and the 2022 handover of 256 units to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.
  • Activist Santosh Daundkar’s protest petition alleging administrative interference and suppression of material was rejected for lacking merit in view of binding Bombay High Court adjudication.
  • Allegations that land intended for affordable housing was diverted to luxury apartments, causing an estimated Rs 30,000 crore loss to the exchequer, were deemed to involve civil and policy matters rather than prosecutable offences.