MUMBAI: The Associated Journal Limited’s (AJL) plan to build commercial buildings, not a library, on a plot allotted by the Maharashtra government has been exposed by none another than the company’s architect Sunil Ambre.
It became clear on Wednesday that Ambre had sought a No-Objection Certificate from the State fire department for a commercial building, which he called Congress Bhavan, to be constructed on the piece of land.
It has also come to light that Congress leader Motilal Vora, one of the accused in the National Herald case, had paid fees of Rs 3,25,000 for the requisite permission from the fire department.
AJL, with which Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul are associated, was allotted the plot for constructing Nehru Library. The papers available with Express show that Ambre in February 2013 had submitted the building’s plan to the fire department.
On February 5, 2013 the fire department gave a receipt in the name of Vora, chairman of AJL, after he deposited Rs 3,35,325 as security deposit.
When contacted, Ambre refused to talk saying he was busy. City BJP spokesman Vivekanand Gupta, who has been pursuing the case from the beginning, said that the new evidence has made the matter an open-and-shut case.
“I request Gautam Chatterjee to take it as cogent evidence that the plot allotted for Nehru Memorial library and research centre has been totally violated. The Congress party is brazenly constructing its own party office,” he said.
Chatterjee is heading a committee constituted by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to probe the violation of rules in the land transfer.