Published On : Fri, Mar 3rd, 2017

Land Grab : Inquiry against Eknath Khadse moving at snail’s pace!

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Nagpur: Tainted former revenue minister Eknath Khadse has submitted his arguments before the one-man inquiry commission of Justice (retd) Dinkar Zoting on Thursday. The committee heard arguments on merits and demerits of the two applications moved by Khadse. The panel is now expected to continue proceedings on Friday and hear some legal precedents to be presented by Khadse’s counsel.

Sources believe that the inquiry is being moved at a dead slow pace and that no substantial development has taken place in the case.

The senior state BJP leader Khadse who is facing allegations of wrongfully transferring a plot of land at Bhosari in Pune district, belonging to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, to his wife and son-in-law had two applications before the probe panel which was set up on June 23 last year.

On Thursday, senior counsel M S Bhangde argued in favour of Khadse’s application. In the first one, Khadse had sought reconstitution of issues before the commission. His counsel said the probe panel was straying beyond its jurisdiction delving onto matters that did not form terms of reference fixed by the government. He also argued that a petition that sought the status of Bhosari land, whether it was acquired by the government or not, was pending before high court and so the panel could not take up the matter.

MIDC counsel Chandrashekhar Jaltare sought dismissal of the application. He argued that the probe process was at a very advanced stage with all the key witnesses and evidence already examined by the panel. Any move at seeking reconstitution of issues may derail the process and undo all the work done till now, he stressed. He argued that issues were fixed for convenience of the process only on the basis of written deposition submitted by Khadse.

Similarly, on the application seeking reappearance and re-examination of Pune district collector Saurabh Rao and ex-CEO of MIDC Bhushan Gagrani, Jaltare argued that the move was nothing but delay-tactic by the accused. The proceedings were adjourned till Friday when senior counsel Bhangde sought time to present important legal precedents from Supreme Court and high courts to bolster his case.