Pawar jumps into NIA row
Says CM’s decision to hand over Bhima-Koregaon probe to agency wrong
For the first time, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, the architect of the MVA alliance, has taken a public position that is diametrically opposed to that of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. At the core of the row is chief minister Thackeray's move to hand over the politically sensitive Elgar Parishad-Koregaon-Bhima case to the National Investigation Agency.
‘‘Law and order is a state subject. It is not proper to encroach upon the rights of a State. Maharashtra's support to the move is therefore unfair," Pawar said at a media interaction.
On Thursday, Home Minister Amit Deshmukh had said he had voiced reservations on the issue but he was overruled by the chief minister.
Pawar’s remarks have exposed the vulnerability of the fledgling 75-day old government to the schisms and fault lines in the loosely knit political collaboration. The Centre's move to appropriate the Elgar Parishad inquiry came barely a couple of days after Pawar had written to Uddhav, asking him to set up a Special Investigation Team to re-investigate the case, including the role of the Pune Police.
Pawar on Friday was more forthcoming when he said Centre’s was an "unconstitutional" move that violates the state's jurisdiction over law and order. "The behaviour of some in the Maharashtra Police (involved in the Bhima-Koregaon investigation) was objectionable. I wanted the role of these officers to be investigated. But ministers in the Maharashtra government met police officers one morning, and the Centre ordered its transfer to the NIA at 3 pm the same day. This is wrong under the Constitution because criminal investigations come within the state's jurisdiction," news agency ANI quoted Pawar as telling reporters.
"It was wrong of the Centre to take the investigation out of the state's hands, and it was wrong of the Maharashtra government to support the decision," Pawar added.
Incidentally, on Friday, the Bombay High Court rejected the anticipatory bail applications of two activists accused in the case Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde - but gave them four weeks protection to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.