Thane: A day after revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule declared the 1,053-acre Bhayanderpada-Owale land as reserved forest, the NCP (SP) questioned why the govt adopted a different approach in the 193-acre Chitalsar-Manpada forest land case claiming both cases had similar legal histories.The minister on Thursday issued orders to uphold the rights of the state govt over the the Owale land and title records to reflect “Government of Maharashtra – Reserved Forest” and “Sanjay Gandhi National Park” keeping it safe from private transfer and construction. However, the party questioned that despite the Chitalsar-Manpada case having an identical legal trajectory, the state apparently failed to aggressively pursue the case.In a media statement issued, Thane NCP-SP district president Manoj Pradhan said they have sought a white paper on the issue from the govt. “The developers in the cases had secured favourable Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal orders in the cases dating back to several decades. The revenue department had earlier stood by the Konkan divisional commission decision to retain names of private holders in the Owale land case. But the minister, Thursday, reversed the same apparently following public pressure. However, the forest department failed to effectively defend the Chitalsar-Manpada case in the Bombay High Court, resulting in the land passing into private hands,” said Pradhan.Pradhan said the party would challenge the Chitalsar-Manpada verdict in the Supreme Court and closely monitor the ongoing high court proceedings in the Owale case.
