Ranjit Patil gets HC reprieve over restaurant’s demolition

In a breather to Minister of State (MoS), Home, Ranjit Patil the Bombay HC on Tuesday dismissed a writ petition, seeking a First Information Report (FIR) against him for allegedly staying the demolition of a famous eatery in suburbs.

A division bench of Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Makarand Karnik dismissed the petition filed by activist Pravin Wategaonkar alleging that Patil had misused his ‘official powers’ to stay the demolition of the cafe Spice and Grains Overseas Limited, located in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).

According to Wategaonkar, the portions of the cafeteria were not in confirmation with the provisions of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act. He claimed that the owners of this shop were the close relatives of Pravin Pardeshi, the principal secretary of the Chief Minister’s Office. He alleged that Patil misused his powers and helped Pardeshi’s relatives to run their business illegally.

On the other hand, Patil in his affidavit contended that he did not misuse his powers or post and rather blamed the owner of the eatery for ‘misleading’ him.

Having heard the submissions and also considering the fact that Patil knew the owners of the eatery, Justice Gavai said, “The petition filed by Wategaonkar only speaks about the minister’s act of staying the demolition orders but it does not speak on the minister’s role in the case. Neither does the petition make any whisper as to if the minister has gained any benefit by passing the orders. The allegations in this petition are as vague as possible and also are unsubstantiated.”

“Just because someone knows somebody, cannot be a ground to allege corruption,” the court held.