Maha Govt files ‘cheating’ case against Maple Group

A complaint was filed at the Shivaji Nagar police station in Pune by the State Government against The Maple Group which had recently published advertisements to promote its housing scheme that offered a one-bedroom-hall kitchen flat for just Rs 5, 00,000 on the outskirts of Pune.

The government had earlier issued a notice to the Maple Group seeking clarity on the misleading advertisements carrying images of PM Narendra Modi, CM Devendra Fadnavis and Pune Guardian Minister Girish Bapat. “We had also shot off a letter to the developer to inquire about the credentials of the project. However, since this did not elicit any response, it prompted us to lodge a complaint against the group suo-moto,” said Tushar Doshi, Deputy Commissioner of police.

The case has been registered under 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 417 (cheating), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of IPC against Maple’s CMD Sachin Agarwal, MD Navin Agarwal, Sales Manager Priyanka Agarwal and other officials.

The alleged misleading advertisements gave an impression that the ‘Maharashtra Housing Scheme’ project was a part of Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana. However, the state government has clarified that Maple Group’s project was in any way linked with the Central or state government housing schemes.

The Group, through the adverts, tried to cheat people into buying apartments at Rs 5 lakh and collected non refundable amount. Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and Mission Director of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) have slapped a notice to the group asking them to withdraw the controversial advertisements, stop collection of money and refund the amounts collected immediately.