Seventy-eight officials from the state property registration department are being investigated by the government for illegally registering documents in violation of the Real Estate Registration Act (RERA) and the Maharashtra Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act. Of the 78 officials listed, 44 are from Pune, 23 are from Thane, eight are from Aurangabad, and three are from Latur. According to the most recent data available to the department, 13,920 property documents from Pune, Thane, Aurangabad, and Latur were being scrutinised. “Department inquiry is on in all the cases and some officials have been issued show cause notices,” a registration department official said. In the recently concluded winter session of the Assembly, Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil stated that the drive against illegal property registrations would continue in all districts. He added that some stray cases of such registration had been reported from Jalna, Osmanabad, and Parbhani as well. After the state-appointed four-member squad checked three lakh documents from 27 sub-registrar offices in Pune in 2020 and submitted a detailed report, the department launched an investigation. The state investigated suspicious cases involving the registration of unauthorised structures and illegal plotting. According to Vikhe Patil, a close eye was kept on the registration of documents that violated the RERA and the Fragmentation Act after the anomalies involving the registration department's Hadapsar office in Pune came to light. In response to the motion for calling attention introduced by MLAs Siddharth Shirole, Madhuri Misal, Sangram Thopte, and Sanjay Jagtap, the minister made this statement. The state government will make the final decision regarding how to proceed with the documents that have been registered. A retired official from the department said, “No citizen will want their deal to be cancelled. The drive may just be warning for the officials to check the documents at the time of registration.” See also: MahaRERA relaxes rules to speed up construction of rural projects Maharashtra to crack whip in enforcing MahaRera rules