Revenue dept acts on Mohammadwadi housing projects over Section 43 tenancy-law breach

The revenue department has begun major action against several well-known housing projects in Mohammadwadi, Pune, causing unease among builders. The Collector's office has found that deals involving land in Survey Nos. 44 and 38/1A of Mohammadwadi village (Haveli taluka) violated a condition under Section 43 of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948. On the directions of Collector Jitendra Dudi, further legal and punitive action against these properties has been set in motion.

The matter began with a complaint by Shitalkumar Bhagchand Jadhav to the Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. He alleged that 5 hectares 91 are of land in Survey No. 44 of Mohammadwadi had been bought and sold without permission. Taking the complaint seriously, the Deputy Speaker held a meeting. Based on the inputs given at that meeting, the revenue department began a detailed scrutiny of the papers of all these land deals.

On examining the available records, the department found that land in Survey No. 43 in the area is "occupant class-1", so no breach of conditions was found there. It was also duly granted non-agricultural (NA) permission in 2008. However, the records showed that no prior permission of the competent authority was taken when land in Survey Nos. 38/1A and 44 was transferred. For this reason, properties in these two survey numbers have been directly accused of violating a condition under Section 43 of the Act.

The projects covered by the action include large and well-known housing developments in Mohammadwadi such as Acropolis, Purple, Tribeca, The Arc, Elina Living and Raheja Vista. Collector Jitendra Dudi issued an official letter on the matter on October 31, 2026. It states that further action on the violation is under way at the Collector's office level.

Given the seriousness of the matter, the Collector has also written separately to the commissioner of the Pune Municipal Corporation. The corporation had sanctioned the construction and layout plans of these properties. The Collector has therefore asked the commissioner to take appropriate further action at the corporation level on halting construction at these projects, in line with the inputs from the Deputy Speaker's meeting. All eyes are now on the stand the civic administration will take.

Hundreds of ordinary citizens and large investors have put their life savings into homes and commercial spaces in these projects, and many families are living in them now. A serious question has arisen over how the original revenue conditions of the land were breached despite all government permissions, bank loan sanctions and title search reports being in place. Home buyers are fearful.

Following the revenue department's strict action, the builders concerned are anxious. It remains to be seen what punitive action the administration takes over the violation, whether construction is actually halted, and how the interests of ordinary home buyers caught in this legal tangle are protected.