18 January,2017 07:16 AM IST | | Vinay Dalvi
The High Court on Tuesday slammed the state and asked it to inquire into the allegations against the former state minister Eknath Khadse, who quit last year following irregularities in a land deal while he was revenue minister
Eknath Khadse
The High Court on Tuesday slammed the state and asked it to inquire into the allegations against the former state minister Eknath Khadse, who quit last year following irregularities in a land deal while he was revenue minister. The court said the state should have also launched a parallel probe into the allegations and completed its investigation into the matter by now.
The court was hearing a petition filed by advocate SS Pathwardhan and social activist Hemant Gawade, claiming that the state's one-member judicial committee of retired justice DS Zoting does not have any powers, as it is not made by following proper procedure. Gawade had earlier claimed that the police refused to register an FIR in the matter when he approached them. The petitioners have also demanded a CBI inquiry.
Additional solicitor general Sangeeta Shinde on Tuesday told the bench of justices Ranjit More and Dr Shalini Phansalkar Joshi that state was waiting for the report from Zoting. Pathwardhan however objected saying that the committee was just a way of buying time.
The justices observed, "Once you form a committee, it does not stop you from investigating the matter... If evidence has been submitted to you, the state should verify it. We don't expect you stop for the committee's report. By this time you should have completed the investigation."
