After Bombay HC order for inquiry, Khadse’s return to politics in limbo
NAGPUR: The political comeback of former revenue minister and senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse has become more difficult after Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday indicated that a probe panel report into allegations against Khadse was unlikely to be made public.
Fadnavis told the assembly that the report submitted by the Zoting Committee was no more relevant after the Bombay high court ordered an independent inquiry in the case. The committee, which was constituted to probe the alleged scam in a land deal involving Khadse’s kin, had submitted its report on June 30 this year and the former minister was anxiously waiting for his rehabilitation in the government.
Fadnavis said the committee’s report had lost its relevance as an independent probe had been ordered by the HC. He said the Anti-Corruption Bureau had registered an FIR in the Bhosri (Pune) land grab case and the inquiry was in progress.
“After constitution of the committee, a petition was filed in Bombay HC, which asked the authorities to lodge a complaint in the case. We requested the court to wait for the committee report, but the request was turned down by the HC. It also directed the ACB to register a case. Since the ACB probe is on, the report has no relevance as such and it has been clarified by the court too,” he said.
This means that the report is unlikely to be made public by the government.
Khadse was removed from the cabinet in June 2016 after a controversy over a deal of land owned by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation at Bhosri in Pune. Khadse is facing charges of misusing his powers as revenue minister to enable his wife and son-in-law to purchase the land at cheaper rates.
Fadnavis also said the report of the committee probing the alleged irregularities in de-notification of the MIDC land by industries minister Subhash Desai would be submitted in 15 days.
KHADSE IS FACING CHARGES OF MISUSING HIS POWERS TO ENABLE HIS WIFE, SONINLAW TO PURCHASE LAND AT CHEAPER RATES