Director of Defence Estates requests to stop registration of defence bungalows in Pune & Khadki Cantonment areas

By: Pune Pulse

December 15, 2023

Pune: The Inspector General of Registration (IGR) has been asked to refrain from registering any more bungalows or house properties in Pune and Khadki Cantonments by the Director of Defence Estates (Southern Command) after it voiced concerns about their illegal sale.

According to officials, the decision was made to prevent the illicit transfer of defence and national assets valued at thousands of crores.

A letter addressed to Hiralal Sonawane, Inspector General of Registration (IGR) said that in numerous cases, bungalows and house properties on defence land (Class B-3 lease and old grant sites) have been transferred and sold illegally by lessees/occupiers of old grant bungalows to individuals/private individuals and builders without the approval of competent authority, Government of India. For your kind information, leasehold and former grant properties cannot be transferred or sold without official government approval.

To this, IGR Sonawane stated that registrations in the past have only happened after receiving the necessary approvals from the national government. If not, the provision is such that properties owned by the

defence cannot be registered.

About 300 bungalows, a few schools and clubs like Turf Club and New Poona Club are located in Pune Cantonment. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) leases these properties to individuals or educational institutions, primarily for terms of 30 years with options to extend to 90 years.

In addition, the Director of Defence Estates (Southern Command) asked the IGR to inform and sensitize all registrars and sub-registrars about the need to bring such cases to the attention of relevant officials and to refrain from registering any sales of leases and old grant properties on defence land inside cantonment areas.

The majority of the bungalows in the area date back to the colonial era, and missionary organizations operating churches and clubs were primarily granted leases by the British. Parsi businessmen were also given the option to lease a portion of these bungalows.

In the bygone era of grant bungalows, private individuals connected to the British were granted vast tracts of land as grants for the construction of bungalows and other structures. Large areas of land were practically free when the city, especially the cantonment area, had a smaller population more than 150 years ago.