Justice Sharmila Deshmukh of Bombay High Court recuses from hearing plea by BJP's Kirit Somaiya against Shiv Sena's Anil Parab

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has moved the Bombay High Court seeking investigation by SIT or directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR against former cabinet minister and Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab for alleged illegal conversion of land..When the plea came up for hearing on Friday, Justice Sharmila Deshmukh recused. It will now be placed before the bench of Justice AS Gadkari.The petition by Somaiya said that Parab, along with his accomplice Vibhas Ranjan Sathe conspired with the sub-divisional officer, Dapoli to violate norms of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification of 2011 which forbids any new construction in No-Development Zones (NDZ).According to the petition, Parab and Sathe got an agricultural land in an NDZ converted into a non-agricultural land to build a resort on it.The petition raised the following allegations:Vibhas Ranjan Sathe bought an agricultural land situated in a CRZ notified No-Development Zone in 2011 and, thereafter, in 2015 sought the gram panchayat's permission to build a non-permanent structure on it. He was granted permission subject to the condition that he will have to seek permission of the revenue department or the CRZ to use the structure for non agricultural purposes. However, no construction pursued.In 2017, Anil Parab bought the land for ₹1 crore. However, the sale deed was executed in 2019.Three months after the sale in 2017, although Anil Parab was the owner of the land, Sathe applied for the conversion of the agricultural land into a land for commercial or residential use and was granted such permission illegally by the sub-divisional Officer, Dapoli. Parab constructed a resort on the land and secured an electricity connection as well. After questions were raised by the public over the illegality of the construction of the resort, Parab sold the property for ₹1.1 Crore to one Sadanand Kadam in December 2019Kadam's chartered accountants declared that the property was valued at about ₹5.4 crores.Kadam paid land revenues for 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 even though Parab bought the land from Sathe in 2019.In order to camouflage the illegal conversion of land use, Parab used his influence to manipulate revenue records to show that the land was transferred directly from Sathe to Kadam. The plea stated that despite multiple representations before law enforcement agencies, no action has been taken against Parab owing to his political influence. Somaiya, therefore, prayed for the constitution of a Special Investigation Team under the supervision of a retired High Court judge for an investigation into the alleged forgery, cheating and dishonest inducement for illegal conversion of land use, criminal misconduct by public servants and the construction of a commercial resort in an NDZ.Parab is a strong supporter of former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Somaiya has also filed a plea against Thackeray seeking a court monitored investigation by the authorities into a property owned by Thackeray’s wife at Alibag in coastal Maharashtra.