Maharashtra’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday tightened its noose around former Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, as it filed a 17,400-page charge-sheet against him for having allegedly received huge kickbacks to lease a plot of land to a private developer for the construction of a central library at the Kalina campus of the Mumbai University.
Bhujbal is already in deep trouble with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) having arrested him in a money laundering case. lodged at the Arthur Road Central jail in Mumbai, Bhujbal will be in judicial custody till March 31.
In its voluminous charge-sheet filed in the MU library land allotment scam case, the ACB booked Bhujbal and six others, including officials from state Public Works Department (PWD), for criminal conspiracy, corruption, cheating and forgery under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code.
The ACB’s case against Bhujbal is that he in his capacity as the then PWD Minister had in 2009 allegedly received huge kickbacks for allotting a prime plot at suburban Kalina belonging to Mumbai University, which had granted a four—acre plot to the State to construct a library.
After floating tenders for construction of a library at Kalina campus of the Mumbai University in 2009, the PWD — under Bhujbal — allegedly awarded contract to a well-known developer in lieu of huge kickbacks. Under the contract, the developer was asked to construct a library on one portion of plot, while the remaining area was let out on lease to the developer for 99 years at Rs1 per sq meter.
Holding that the allotment made by the PWD headed by Bhujbal was “illegal”, the ACB told the court in its charge-sheet that the State Revenue department was kept in the dark about the allotment and suburban collector was also not informed about it.
Monday’s was the second charge-sheet filed against Bhujbal by the ACB in an alleged corruption. Earlier on February 24 this year, the ACB had registered a charge-sheet against the senior NCP leader in a city court here the new Maharashtra Sadan scam case.
Apart from Bhujbal who had been the deputy chief minister from October 18, 1999 to December 23 2003 and was the PWD Minister in the previous DF Government, the others were who charge-sheeted in the scam were his son Pankay, nephew Samir and 14 others. The charge-sheet, running into 20,000 pages, contained statements by 20 witnesses.
The charge-sheet by the ACB against Bhujbal and others had come on the heels of the arrest of his nephew Samir and prolonged questioning of his son Pankaj by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with two money laundering cases registered against the senor NCP leader, his family members and others.