Raju Donde, the sub-registrar at the Haveli 24 registration office, has been suspended for allegedly causing a financial setback of ₹3.84 crore to the Maharashtra state government. The action was taken by the Inspector-General of Registration and Stamps (IGR) following the discovery of serious irregularities in property registrations under his purview.
The suspension, issued on May 23, comes after an investigation led by sub-district registrar Santosh Hingane, who found that Donde had registered multiple properties at undervalued rates, resulting in significantly reduced stamp duty collections. Additionally, he is accused of failing to register several documents even after the payment of stamp duty.
Before the suspension was officially implemented, Donde had already been stripped of his administrative powers based on initial findings. The IGR’s office promptly recommended his suspension, which was then formally approved by the state’s additional chief secretary (revenue), Satyanarayan Bajaj.
Hingane confirmed that affected parties have been issued notices asking them to pay the deficit in stamp duties as per prevailing market rates at the time of their property transactions. Donde’s suspension will remain in place until a detailed inquiry is completed.
A specialized team, appointed by the IGR, audited 2,228 property documents in two phases—425 in the first phase and 1,803 in the second. Out of these, 55 documents were flagged for discrepancies, leading to an estimated loss of ₹3.19 crore in stamp duty and registration fees alone.
This case adds to a growing list of irregularities in Pune’s registration offices. In October 2023, joint sub-registrar S. P. Bhatambekar was also suspended for charging a mere ₹500 in registration fees against a due amount of ₹24.90 crore. He was subsequently transferred and restricted from leaving his district during the investigation.
Earlier, in April 2022, the state revenue department had suspended 44 officials across 27 sub-registrar offices in Pune for unlawfully processing over 10,500 property documents. These violations breached both the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) and the Maharashtra Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act.
