Mid-Day

Bombay High Court today lifted the stay on investigation against Indian Merchants Chamber President and builder Niranjan Hiranandani and Indian Administrative services (IAS) officer Thomas Benjamin in the Rs 45,000-crore Powai land scam case.

Niranjan Hiranandani (File pic)

Earlier this year, an FIR was registered by the Maharashtra State Anti-Corruption Bureau against Hiranandani and Benjamin for alleged irregularities in a housing project worth nearly Rs 45,000 crore.

It is alleged that Hiranandani was supposed to construct tenements for weaker sections of society on a government land under the Powai Housing Development Scheme at Powai in the suburbs, but he cheated the state by constructing spacious flats and selling them off at a premium to the affluents.

Now that the stay has been lifted, it is likely that further investigation may open up a can of worms and several ministers, politicians and IAS officers who helped Hiranandani in perpetrating this allegedly massive fraud may get apprehended.