Wockhardt starts clearing illegal encroachment but NMC fails to net big fishes in Nagpur

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Nagpur News:The corporate medico establishment Wockhardt hospitals in Nagpur seems to be acting in tandem with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation which served the notice to the former with a strict directive to the clear the land allotted for parking purpose. The hospital, which was found utilizing the land for development of hospital infrastructure, has on Monday started the clearance works in order to avoid the mess.

Sources informed that the hospital had illegally constructed rooms in which they have placed the hospital equipments, encroaching the space allotted for parking.

The NMC’s Dharampeth Zone had on June 19 issued a notice to the Maharashtra Rashtrabhasha Sabha which passed on the land to Wockhardt hospitals over violation of sanctioned building plan. The NMC had given a 24-hour deadline to the Sabha to demolish the illegal construction by Wockhardt Hospital which received the notice on June 21.

Meanwhile, the NMC officials have literally turned a deaf ear regarding the issue of illegal allotment of land to various private entities in Nagpur which allegedly caused the revenue loss to the tune of Rs 100 crore.

Earlier Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court had issued notices to Maharashtra Government and some organizations including Wockhardt hospitals for alleged illegal allotment of land in Nagpur for monetary consideration.

Citizens Forum for Equality, an NGO, had filed the PIL challenging the “illegal” action of Government officers and private companies in allotment of a government-owned land.

Petitioner Madhukar Kukde alleged that a loss of Rs 100 crores was caused to the state exchequer due to illegal allotment of the government land by Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) to Maharashtra Rashtrabhasha Sabha (MRS) of Pune which strives for promotion of Hindi Language. Advocate Tushar Mandlekar, appearing for petitioner prayed for a CBI inquiry as some politicians were allegedly involved.

It was alleged that NIT had bypassed the mandatory provision of the rule 5,6,7 of Land Disposal Rules 1986 to auction the said land.

According to the petitioner, the land was illegally given only at a premium of Rs 30 lakh to MRS of Pune for 30 years by the local authority NIT Nagpur in 2007 without putting it into the process of auction. The petitioner further alleged that the said piece of land was illegally alienated and the interest was transferred to several parties through various agreements to which Nagpur Improvement Trust was not at all a party.

The PIL alleged that MRS illegally signed Development Agreement with Prajakta Developers which, in turn, sold the land to S M G Hospitals Pvt Ltd, a company owned by Datta Meghe, MP fom Wardha, near here, for a consideration of Rs 6.5 crore.

S M G Hospitals Pvt Ltd further alienated the 22,000 square feet land in Wing B to Wockhardt Hospitals Pvt Ltd for a minimum consideration of Rs 33 lakh per year through a ‘Management Agreement’.

The petitioner alleged that all these actions were violative of Lease Deed signed by the NIT and rule 5, 6, 7, 24 of Land Disposal Rules 1983.