ACB clean chit to Khadse but has to wait for political rehab

The Anti-Corruption Bureau has given a clean chit to Eknath Khadse, senior BJP leader and former revenue minister in the Bhosari (Pune) land case.

Khadse had to step down as minister in June last year amid charges that he had influenced government officials and helped his family members corner the plot belonging to MIDC at a throwaway price of Rs 3.75 crore, as against the value of Rs 31.01 crore.

However, it will be some time before Khadse, who is not known for best of the relations with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, is politically rehabilitated.

Fadnavis said on Tuesday after the ACB report became public that the decision on Khadse will be taken by the Pune district court, where the matter is still pending. In other words, the ACB clean chit does not clear the decks for Khadse to be inducted in the Cabinet; he will have to wait at least till the order of the court.

Fadnavis said by way of explanation, “The ACB report is not submitted to the state government. The agency submits it to the court and the judge will take a final decision on Khadse.”

Khadse, however, can breathe easy as the clean chit has come in the run-up to the general elections. While reacting to the ACB report, the BJP leader asserted that he has not done anything wrong in 40 years in politics. “I have faith in the judiciary and know that I will be cleared.

The only thing is I have lost two years of my political career. But this spell taught me who are my real friends and who are my adversaries,” said Khadse.

After Hemant Gawande, a Pune-based realtor, had made the allegations, Khadse had tendered his resignation from the Cabinet. The state government had then appointed a committee headed by Justice Dinkar Zoting which also gave a clean chit to Khadse. The report was submitted to the state government on July 5 last year. Fadnavis, however, had said the report was irrelevant.

The Bombay High Court on March 9, 2017, directed the Bund Garden Police to close the case and handed it over to the ACB.

The petitioner is threatening to challenge the ACB decision in the High Court. Gawande said that he will speak once he officially gets the ACB report. “At the moment, any comment will be premature. I don’t want to be in the limelight. This was never my aim, but I will not give up this issue,” said a determined Gawande.