Maharashtra’s former Revenue Minister and senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse on Wednesday landed in deep trouble, as the Maharashtra Government informed the Bombay High Court that State Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) would investigate the Pune land deal scam and soon register an FIR against him.
Making a submission to this effect before a HC division bench of Justices R V More and Revati Mohite Dere, State government counsel Niteen Pradhan told the court that the Pune police — who had hitherto investigated the case —were inept at probing cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and hence, the investigations into the case against Khadse and his family members be transferred to the State ACB.
“The investigation into the case against Khadse and his family members will be transferred to ACB. An FIR will be lodged against the accused persons,” Pradhan told the High Court.
Following Pradhan’s submission, the HC bench ordered that the ACB’s probe be conducted independently and expeditiously. It also directed the ACB not let the previous findings of the Pune Police or the State appointed Judicial Commission influence its investigations.
The HC Bench directed the State ACB to ensure that the investigations into the Pune land scam case be supervised by an officer not below the rank of Additional Director General of the ACB.
The bench however, ignored the reservations about the court’s mandate on supervision of the case by an officer not below the rank of Additional Director General of the ACB.
The high court was hearing a petition filed by whistle blower from Pune Hemant Gawande has alleged that Khadse, his wife Mandakini and son-in-law Girish Chaudhary had hatched a conspiracy and purchsed a 3-acre plot of land at Bhosri near Pune owned Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in the name of his kin for Rs 3.75 crore as against the market price of Rs 40 crore.
The HC posted the petition for further hearing on April 3 and asked the ACB to inform it about the progress in the investigations by then.
The Maharashtra government’s assurance to hand over the Pune land deal case against Khadse to the State ACB came after the high court had at the earlier hearing made it clear to the Devendra Fadnavis dispensation that it was not willing to transfer probe to the ACB, then it would pass appropriate orders.
In February this year, the state government had told the high court that Pune police had not made out any “prima facie cognisable offence” in the case.
It may be recalled that on June 4, 2016, Khadse resigned from his post as the State Revenue Minister, prompting chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to appoint a judicial committee, headed by retired Bombay HC judge Dinkar Zoting, to probe the allegations of irregularities in the purchase of a plot of land at Bhosari. On his part, Khadse had denied that he had indulged in any wrong doing in the Pune land deal case.
Gavande, whose allegations against Khadse were one of the three to four reasons that had prompted the latter to put in his papers as number two minister in the Devendra Fadnavis Cabinet, subsequently moved the high court, seeking directive to the Pune police to act on his criminal complaint filed against Khadse. The police action, he had contended, was necessary in addition to the inquiry by the Judicial committee.