PUNE: The Defence Estates Office (DEO), Pune Circle, has sealed two more high-value bungalows in prime locations on Napier Road and Stavely Road in Camp on Friday.
The properties fall under the Old Grant Bungalows (OGBs) category and are valued at over Rs100 crore in total as per the current market rate, a DEO official said. The official added that the Holder of Occupancy Rights (HORs) sold these houses and land illegally to private players without mandatory permissions from the ministry of defence (MoD) and Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE), the competent authorities.
Officials swooped down on the OGBs after scrutinizing all relevant documents. This is the third sealing action on OGBs in a week by the DEO Pune circle for irregularities on defence land.
Director of Defence Estates at the Principal Directorate Defence Estates of Southern Command, Saurav Ray, told TOI, “There are multiple irregularities in these properties, but primarily illegal transfer and sale of defence land and fraudulent representation by HORs. Such gross violations have taken place at multiple levels over the years. The nexus in Pune involves builders, brokers and more in the system. It needs to be probed thoroughly.”
The OGB on 15 Stavely Road is spread over 1.2 acres of defence land and the structure on it measures 5,500 square feet. “After studying each document of the property, we found that the HOR sold the bungalow in 2013 to a businessman sans MoD permission. The owner later applied to Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) to construct a bungalow here. Thereafter, the owner applied for the mutation (change of owner) of the property. This is a common modus operandi used prevalently to sell OGB properties under PCB limits,” said a senior official of the board.
In the Napier Road property case, authorities are contemplating lodging an FIR to initiate criminal action for selling defence land, as the HORs sold the OGB land and structure to private persons illegally, said DEO officials. The total area of the property is 0.63 acres, and HORs sold it for Rs7.5 crore on January 27, 2023. “This is a gross violation and we are considering legal action,” said an official.
Pune Circle DEO Amitkumar Mane said, “We sealed these properties after receiving records of illegal sale of defence land in January last year from the Inspector General of Registration (IGR). It is a very serious violation.”
A senior official from the DGDE, New Delhi, said, “There have been gross violations of regulations at defence estates and Cantonments in dealing with OGBs and lease bungalows over the decades. HORs commit brazen violations and sell valuable properties illegally. Sanctions and regularization accorded by the DEO and cantonment authorities to HORs needs to be investigated to find irregularities in the system.”
