Pune land grab case: Eknath Khadse files discharge plea

Eknath Khadse. File pic

Senior political leader Eknath Khadse on Thursday moved a discharge application before a special court here in an alleged money laundering case related to a 2016 land deal in Pune district of Maharashtra, reported the PTI.

According to the PTI, Eknath Khadse's wife Mandakini Khadse and son-in-law Girish Chaudhari have also sought discharge from the Pune land grab case.

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The Khadse couple was present before special judge R N Rokade, hearing cases related to MPs and MLAs, when his lawyer, Swapnil Ambure, filed the applications. The court has sought the response of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the case, on the pleas of the accused, as per the PTI.

Eknath Khadse, a senior minister in the previous BJP-led government in Maharashtra, had to step down in 2016 after he was accused of misusing his position to facilitate the purchase of government land in Bhosari industrial area near Pune by his wife and son-in-law.

The Khadse family purchased the land for Rs 3.75 crore when its actual price was Rs 31.01 crore, the ED has alleged.

Even though Khadse and his wife have been named as accused in the case, they were never arrested by the probe agency.

Their son-in-law was arrested in July 2021. He spent over two years in jail before being granted bail by the Supreme Court.

Eknath Khadse, who was associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for nearly four decades, had quit the party and joined the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 2020. In April this year, he announced that he would soon return to his parent party BJP. However, he is yet to join it formally, the news agency reported.

PMC continues its crackdown on illegal structures at pubs and bars

Meanwhile, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) continued its crackdown on unauthorised structures at pubs and bars in the city for the second day on Wednesday in the wake of alleged consumption of drugs at a local bar, officials said, according to the PTI.

As part of the action, the officials of the PMC's building department demolished illegal structures of some prominent bars, including Eskobar and FML Resto Bar in Baner during the day, they said.

Following timing-related violations at Liquid Leisure Lounge (L3) bar on Pune's Fergusson College Road and alleged drug use at the establishment, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had instructed to run a bulldozer on the unauthorised structures linked to the narcotic substance. Accordingly, the PMC has been taking action against the unauthorised structures of bars and pubs.

(with PTI inputs)