Terming the Pune land grab scam as "larger than the 2G spectrum scam", the Bombay High Court today said it was inclined to direct Maharashtra government to transfer investigations into the case to CBI.
A Division Bench of Justices B H Marlapalle and U D Salvi gave the government time till February 10 to clear its stand and directed the Advocate General to appear before it.
The Bench was hearing a PIL filed by BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari alleging that bogus documents were used and orders passed under the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCA).
"This is bigger than the 2G scam... The court is inclined to transfer the case to CBI," the court remarked.
The scam was unearthed in 2005 when the Pune deputy collector's office received a forged and fabricated certificate under the Act, declaring a plot near Pune as non-surplus.
According to the petition, Yogesh Mhase, officer on special duty to former deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, was also involved in the scam.
The High Court had on the last hearing directed the additional collector and competent authorities to register FIRs in 18 cases where bogus orders were used.
Of the 29 files shortlisted, FIRs have been filed in 11 cases. The government had then sought six weeks time to scrutinise the remaining 18 files.
