MUMBAI, Feb. 18 -- The Vikas Kharge Committee of senior revenue officials, set up to look into the Mundhwa land scam in which the late Ajit Pawar's son, Parth, was involved, submitted its report to the state government on Monday, giving Parth a clean chit. In its over-1,000-page report, the committee has put the onus on the two revenue officials who registered the deal, and has left all further inquiry to the Pune police investigating the FIR. The committee comprised the Pune divisional commissioner, the inspector-general of registration and controller of stamps, the Pune collector and the commissioner of land records. Its mandate was to ascertain whether there were any irregularities in the land transactions, and if yes, to fix responsibility, propose corrective measures to restore the land if required and recommend a preventive mechanism to avert such cases in future. The committee has pinned the blame squarely on Ravindra Taru, the suspended sub-registrar of stamp duty, who is currently in jail, and Suryakant Yevale, the suspended tehsildar from the collector's office, who is on anticipatory bail. Its logic is that since the duo was responsible for registering the government land in the name of Parth Pawar's company, Amedia Enterprises LLP, "without due verification", they were solely responsible. The land is currently leased to the Botanical Survey of India, a central government institution. "The officers were in clear violation of a notification dated April 28, 2025-just 22 days before the registration of the Mundhwa land-which clearly prohibits registration of lands belonging to the government and those whose 7/12 extract or property card records are not available," said an official. "Secondly, the officers did not even ensure that Rs 21 crore was paid towards the stamp duty. Thus the irregularities were established and responsibility fixed." The controversy over the Mundhwa land erupted in November 2025 when Sheetal Tejwani, the power-of-attorney holder for the approximately 40- to 43-acre land parcel, and Parth's partner Digvijay Patil were accused of manipulating records and illegally transferring the ownership rights of the land to the company. Parth, who holds 99% of the company's shares, has not been named in either the FIR or the chargesheet. As far as action against Parth is concerned, the committee is silent. It has reportedly stated that since Parth had not signed the deal and no land was transferred, there was no question of him being indicted. Another officer from the department said that the fixing of responsibility of other directors of the company would be part of the Pune police's investigation. Patil, who owns only 1% of the shares, could face action, but the committee has reportedly left it to the police. Moreover, according to officials, the charges will mostly be related to evasion of stamp duty and not for the attempt to grab government land. The committee has also washed its hands of the recovery of unpaid stamp duty of Rs 21 crore, penalty of over Rs 2 crore and the duty to be imposed if the deal is cancelled. "There are three cases filed by the government, Amedia and Sheetal Tejwani," said an official from the stamp duty and registration office. "The recovery of stamp duty needs to be done by the stamp duty and registration office but the decision on other two points will be as per court directives."...