Ex-CM calls for judicial probe into land scams
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Monday demanded the immediate dismissal of Housing Minister Prakash Mehta and institution of a judicial inquiry into the land scams committed by him in Mumbai in the name of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
An inquiry already ordered by the CM against his own sitting minister is unprecedented but it would not yield any results unless a judicial inquiry is ordered, Chavan asserted at an AICC Press briefing here. This is the second such inquiry, the first ordered against then Revenue Minister Eknath Khadke, who had to resign unlike Mehta continuing in the post.
He also sought a probe into the massive scam of clearance of 137 critical files of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) by an officer in the last two weeks of his tenure before retirement. The officer was brought in to head SRA only few weeks before his retirement.
The former CM also sought a probe to expose the developer who has been corrupting the entire system, right from the ministers to all those having powers in the government, and probe all his works to expose those having nexus with him.
Chavan also released the documents to show the irregularities allegedly committed by minister Mehta ignoring the officers’’ advice and encroaching upon the powers of the SRA. He wondered why the CM was not dismissing Mehta who misused his name for the scams, writing on the files that the CM has been “apprised” (avgat karaya). The CM admitted in the Assembly that he has neither approved the proposals nor even seen the files.
The mystery remains whether Mehta is lying to apprise the CM or whether the CM trying to wriggle out by denying his consent in view of the scams coming to light, Chavan said, pointing out that the prima facie case has been established by sheer inquiry instituted by the chief minister.