TOP COP TO SCAN BHUJBAL PROBE REPORTS

With directions from the Bombay High Court, the Police Commissioner will now look into the reports filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) pertaining to the probe against senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and his family members.

The directions came from a division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Prakash Naik while hearing a petition filed by Sunil Karve, co-founder of Bhujbal’s Mumbai Education Trust (MET).

Karve had accused Chhagan Bhujbal and his family members, who are among the trustees of MET, of misappropriating Rs 177 crore of the trust funds and misusing its office building at the Bandra Reclamation, Mumbai. He also alleged that the Bhujbal family had usurped an entire floor in the MET building, using it as residence and also as the office of their furniture business.

Accordingly, both EOW and ACB had carried independent investigations and submitted their reports. Both the agencies had stated (in their respective reports) that they could not come across any cognizable offence against Bhujbal and his family. The agencies had also said in their reports that the jurisdiction to deal with this issue was only of the Charity Commissioner, However, Karve who has sought registration of an FIR against the beleaguered politician, challenged the reports.

On Tuesday, the State government informed the bench about its stand that the Police Commissioner should look into the reports submitted by EOW and ACB, and take appropriate decision over the same. Subsequently, the bench directed the city’s top cop to examine the reports.