Land deal row: Parth Pawar's firm must pay double stamp duty to cancel sale deed

AFter Maharashtra surrogate Chief government minister Ajit Pawar's promulgation that the sales agreement deed of conveyance executed by his son Parth Pawar's firm for a prime land in Pune has been cancelled, it has come to light that Amadea Enterprises LLP will now have to pay double stamp duty, which comes to ₹42 crore, for cancellation.The Department of Registration and Stamps has informed Digvijay Amarsinh Patil, the cousin of Parth Pawar and a partner in Amadea Enterprises LLP, that the firm must pay the earlier 7 per cent stamp duty (5 per cent under the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1 percent Local Body Tax and 1 percent Metro Cess), as it had sought an exemption by claiming a data centre was proposed on the land.It must also pay an additional 7 per cent stamp duty to execute the cancellation deed, officials from the department said.Also Read | ‘Those who don’t know what FIR is…': In Pune land ‘scam’, why Ajit Pawar's son Parth is not named, what CM Fadnavis saidAccording to the department, the firm had claimed a stamp duty exemption at the time of the sale deed by stating that a data centre would be set up on the land.But the cancellation deed now submitted shows that the plan has been dropped, it noted.On Thursday, the sale deed of 40 acres of government land in the upscale Mundhwa area to Amadea Enterprises came under the scanner for want of required clearances. Opposition leaders alleged that its market value was ₹1,800 crore.Based on a complaint filed by the Inspector General of Registrar's office, the Pimpri Chinchwad police registered a first information report against Digvijay Patil, Shital Tejwani (who represented the 272 'owners' of the land through a power of attorney), and sub-registrar R B Taru for alleged misappropriation and cheating.Ajit Pawar on Friday claimed that Parth was unaware that the land purchased by his firm belonged to the government, and informed that the ₹300 crore deal has now been cancelled.Joint Sub Registrar, Class 2, A P Fulaware, in his order, said, "It is necessary to pay the stamp duty at the rate of 7 per cent (5 per cent under the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1 per cent Local Body Tax 1 per cent Metro Cess). Hence, the deficit stamp duty and penalty pertaining to the sale deed must be deposited with the Stamps Collector, Pune City, and the said document must be duly stamped."In the same letter, the official stated that to execute the cancellation deed of the said land, the firm will have to pay an additional 7 per cent stamp duty.A copy of the letter clarified that the deed will only be cancelled once the stamp duty is paid.Amadea Enterprises, a firm co-owned by Parth Pawar and his cousin Digvijay Patil, entered into an agreement with Shital Tejwani, the power of attorney representing 272 alleged land owners, and executed a sale deed for the 40-acre land in Mundhwa for ₹300 crore.The deal came under the scanner after it was revealed that the land belonged to 'Mumbai Sarkar', and while executing the deal, the firm had allegedly gotten the 7 per cent stamp duty waived by colluding with sub-registrar R B Taru, who executed the deal at the sub-registrar office.The 7 per cent stamp duty for the ₹300 crore deal comes to ₹21 crore.Talking to PTI, Joint Inspector General of Stamps and Registration, Rajendra Muthe, said that the proposal by Amadea at the time of the sale deed in May this year stated that they sought stamp duty exemption, citing that a data centre was proposed on the said land."However, during the scrutiny, it was revealed that an exemption can not be given to such a proposal and hence, the firm will have to pay an earlier stamp duty that is 7 per cent and an additional 7 per cent to execute the cancellation deed," he said.