Mundhwa land row: How Ajit Pawar’s son’s firm got entangled
An explainer on the Mundhwa land deal row in Pune, the FIRs filed, and how Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar’s firm became part of the controversy
The snowballing political controversy over the alleged illegal sale of a government property in Mundhwa in Pune at an undervalued price to a company owned by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar has drawn a response from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday (November 8), who has vowed that “no one will be spared” if found guilty. Interestingly, the FIR lodged in the case does not name Parth.
What CM Fadnavis said
Fadnavis and the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra have been targeting the Opposing Maha Vikash Agadi (MVA) coalition over why Parth, who owns a 99 per cent stake in the concerned company Amadea Enterprises LLP did not feature in the two FIRs registered in the Pune land deal case, reported the Hindustan Times.
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“Those who don't even understand what an FIR (First Information Report) is, are the ones making baseless allegations. When an FIR is registered, it is filed against the express parties involved. In this case, the FIR has been filed against the company and its authorised signatories,” said Fadnavis as quoted in the report.
The Mahar Watan land and the row
The controversy revolves around the alleged illegal transfer of a 40-acre land parcel made up of 272 smaller plots of Mahar Watan land in Pune’s Mundhwa area, near Koregaon Park, on May 19, 2025. According to Ajit Pawar, no payment was made, and the transaction was later cancelled.
Mahar Watan land was traditionally allotted to members of the Mahar community (now a Scheduled Caste) for hereditary village service. After Independence, this caste-based system was dismantled to eliminate discrimination, and the land’s status was changed to government-owned “occupancy” land, which cannot be transferred or sold without state approval.
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According to media reports, the transaction was executed using a longstanding power of attorney granted by the 272 landholders to a company named Paramount Infrastructures, which had sought permission to build an IT park.
Allegedly, the firm’s request for stamp duty exemption was approved in violation of standard procedures following a Letter of Intent from the Directorate of Industries.
How the row started
The alleged irregularities came under scrutiny after an FIR was lodged on November 6, following a complaint by social activist Dinkar Kotkar. Just two weeks after the sale deed, on June 5, 2025, Kotkar wrote to the Inspector General of Registration (IGR), alleging that a stamp duty waiver of around Rs 21 crore had been wrongly granted, causing a loss to the exchequer. The FIR currently estimates the loss at Rs 5.89 crore.
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Following Kotkar’s complaint and subsequent reminder, the IGR’s office conducted an internal review of the transaction. The inquiry found that official records had been unlawfully altered despite the land being government-owned. Based on these findings, Deputy District Registrar Santosh Ashok Hingane filed a criminal complaint, leading to the FIR.
Who are named in the FIR
Parth Pawar’s business associate, Digvijay Patil, who owns a 1per cent stake in Amadea Enterprises LLP, with Parth holding the remaining 99 per cent, has been named in two FIRs. One pertains to alleged involvement in facilitating an unlawful land deal, and the other concerns evasion of stamp duty.
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Sheetal Tejwani, the power-of-attorney holder representing the original 272 landowners, has been named in the FIR.
Two suspended revenue officials-sub-registrar Ravindra Taru, accused of registering the sale deed without collecting the required stamp duty, and Pune city tehsildar Suryakant Yewale, alleged to have abused his authority by issuing illegal orders transferring ownership to private individuals- have also been named in the FIR.
(With agency inputs)