YP Singh alleges Harshwardhan Patil grabbed flat illegally

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Harshwardhan Patil

Former IPS officer and lawyer Y.P. Singh has alleged that parliamentary affairs minister Harshwardhan Patil, in the name of his wife, grabbed a flat in the controversial Ashirwad Cooperative Housing Society.

The recently leaked Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has passed severe strictures for the alleged violations in allotting flats to politicians and their relatives. The 21-storey Ashirwad CHS also finds a mention, as a flat has been allotted to Bhagyashri Patil, wife of the parliamentary affairs minister.

Talking to reporters on Saturday, Mr Singh alleged that Mr Patil first tried to usurp the Ashirwad flat in the name of his mother. When it did not succeed, he put forth his wife’s name to stake claim on the 1,0760-sq ft flat.

“This is a criminal conspiracy, in which ministers, their relatives and government officials are involved. False documents were submitted to grab flats in the Ashiward CHS, which is located at a prime location in Andheri,” Mr Singh said.

Mr Patil first applied for the flat in the name of his mother Ratnaprabha, however, she was considered ineligible as her income shown was much above the official requirement. He then wrote a letter to withdraw her name and instead proposed his wife’s name. In the affidavit, Bhagyashri showed her monthly income as just `6,000 and of her spouse as nil. On the contrary, while contesting the 2004 Assembly elections, Mr Patil had shown his total assets to be worth above `1 crore.

“Additionally, in spite of the fact that Mr Patil owns a flat in Shubhada CHS at Worli, they declared that neither she or her husband owned any land in the BMC jurisdiction, which is a blatant offence of criminal misconduct liable for seven year imprisonment,” Mr Singh said.

Despite repeated attempts, Mr Patil remained unavailable for comments.