Pune: The court of additional sessions judge DP Ragit has rejected the bail applications of power-of-attorney (PoA) holder Sheetal Tejwani and suspended sub registrar Ravindra B Taru in the illegal stamp duty waiver on the registration of a sale deed relating to the 40-acre govt land parcel in Mundhwa.A case update on the district court’s website on Monday confirmed the status of the two bail pleas as rejected on Feb 16. “A full text of the court’s order is expected in due course of time,” district govt pleader Pramod Bombatkar told TOI.
Tejwani’s lawyer Deepali Kedar told TOI, “The bail was declined. We believe the merits of the case and the chargesheet filed by the investigating agencies need to be appreciated properly. It is our case that the matter is more of a revenue violation. We have full faith in the higher judiciary and are confident that the matter will receive fair and objective consideration in accordance with law.”Taru is accused of conniving with Tejwani and another suspect to register the sale deed on May 20, 2025, and waiving a 7% stamp duty, which works out to Rs 21 crore for a declared land deal consideration of Rs 300 crore, causing revenue loss to state govt. Tejwani executed the sale deed on behalf of the 272 watandars (original holders of the Mahar Watan land before it was taken over by state govt after the abolition of the Mahar Watan system) in favour of Digvijay Patil, one of the partners in the Amadea Enterprises LLP, which intended to build a data centre at the site.Former deputy CM late Ajit Pawar’s son, Parth, is another partner in Amadea Enterprises, although Parth was not named in the FIR registered on Nov 6, 2025, by the Bavdhan police following a complaint by joint district registrar and stamp duty collector Santosh Hingane.As of now, the land is in possession of the Botanical Survey of India on a lease till 2038. Patil’s anticipatory bail application is pending before the sessions court and is slated for a hearing on Feb 18.On Jan 1, a magisterial court in Paud rejected Taru’s bail application, noting, “The allegations indicated that despite clear indicators of govt ownership and substantial stamp duty liability, Taru proceeded to register the document by charging a nominal amount, ie, stamp paper of 500, resulting in an alleged loss of several crores of rupees to the state. Such acts, at this prima facie stage, cannot be brushed aside as mere inadvertent or clerical mistakes.” The same court had on Jan 13 rejected Tejwani’s bail plea, following which the two moved the sessions court for bail relief.
