Govt awards 5.5 acre prime land to Subhash Ghai

Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and his cabinet on Tuesday approved the controversial proposal of allotting the 5.5 acres of prime land at Goregaon to Bollywood film director Subhash Ghai’s film school, Whistling Woods International Ltd. The land, which is situated at Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari (Film City), will be given on a 30-year lease, charging only ready reckoner rate, which is way below the market price.

The proposal had twice received negative remarks from the revenue department as any government land vested to one department cannot be allotted at nominal rates to a private institution for profit-making without inviting applications from others as per the high court’s directions.

However, to circumvent this, Mr Fadnavis referred the issue to a high-power committee headed by the chief secretary. After the committee cleared the proposal, it came directly to the cabinet for approval.

Ghai established the Whistling Woods International Ltd in 2000 for imparting film education. It was former chief minister, the late Vilasrao Deshmukh during the Congress regime, who allotted 20 acre of prime land to the institution through a joint venture agreement. The CAG (Controller and Auditor General) had raised an objection and a PIL too was filed in the Bombay high court.

The high court had cancelled the land allotment in 2012 and directed that it be returned to the state government. This HC order was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2012. The state government has taken the possession of 14.5 acre of land which was unutilised, and the building which is on 5.5 acre land, remains  with the institute,  which conducts cources on various aspects of film education for a hefty fee.

In 2016, Ghai had made an application to the CM and requested that the entire land be allotted to the institute. Mr Fadnavis had initially referred the matter to the cultural department as the land belongs to them, which sent it for legal opinion and the approval of the revenue department. However, the revenue department refused to give its nod to the allotment considering court orders. It held that, any government department cannot give the land on lease legally to a private institute or person. If the cultural department did not want the land for its use, it should be surrendered to the revenue department, which holds all government lands. It would then be allotted to anyone as per rules.