Mumbai: Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has ordered the suspension of Vidya Shankar Bade (Sangle), the in-charge Sub-Registrar of Haveli Sub-Registrar Office in Pune, for her alleged role in facilitating an illegal sale of government land near Pune. The suspension follows revelations of serious violations in the registration of a land transaction involving a prime 15-acre government plot at Tathawade in Pimpri-Chinchwad.
According to official reports, the land Survey No. 20 in question, at Tathawade belonged to the Animal Husbandry Department. Despite being government-owned and clearly marked as non-transferable without prior government permission, it was sold in January 2025 through a private deal valued at several crores of rupees.
Preliminary inquiry has revealed that during the registration of document number 685/2025 for a 6-hectare 32-are portion of the land, Sub-Registrar Bade failed to follow mandatory procedures. She reportedly accepted an outdated 7/12 extract (land record) instead of verifying the latest version. The current record carried a clear remark prohibiting sale or transfer without prior government sanction.
Officials said that if Bade had checked the updated record, she would have noticed the restriction and rejected the registration. Moreover, the registered owner of the land had already passed away, and no legal heirs were recorded in the land documents. Despite this, the Sub-Registrar allegedly used the “skip” option in the registration system to bypass mandatory verification steps, allowing the transaction to go through.
The irregularities came to light when the Stamp Duty Department detected the suspicious transaction and informed the Animal Husbandry Department. Shocked by the discovery, the Commissioner of Animal Husbandry lodged a formal complaint with the Pune Divisional Commissioner.
Following the complaint, both the Divisional Commissioner’s Office and the Animal Husbandry Department have launched parallel investigations into the matter. The office of the Inspector General of Registration (IGR) has also noted multiple procedural violations and a possible attempt to facilitate a fraudulent deal.
Taking serious note of the issue, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule immediately ordered the suspension of Sub-Registrar Vidya Bade. The Minister stated that no leniency will be shown in cases involving misuse of authority or loss to government property.
“The sale of government-owned land without authorization is a grave offense. Strict departmental and criminal action will follow against all those found guilty,” the Minister said.
Officials have expressed concern that the incident reflects a recurring pattern of illegal attempts to grab or sell government land in the Pune metropolitan region, especially in rapidly developing areas like Tathawade, which have seen a sharp rise in land value. With this latest episode, authorities are now tightening scrutiny over all recent land registrations involving government properties to prevent further misuse.
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