Maharashtra Chief Minister Mr. Devendra Fadnavis has given the nod for the probe by the Anti-Corruption Bureau against former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Chhagan Bhujbal along with State Unit Chief of the Nationalist Congress Party Sunil Tatkare over alleged corruption charges. Advocate General Sunil Manohar told the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court today that the Chief Minster had asked the ACB to go ahead with probe against the three top NCP leaders in the alleged scams in which several thousand crores of rupees were siphoned off in connivance with contractors and officials.
The State Anti-Corruption Bureau has been asked to institute open inquiries against former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and State NCP Chief Sunil Tatkare in connection with alleged corruption and irregularities in execution of various irrigation projects during their tenure as Water Resource Ministers. The government has also ordered probe against irrigation department officials and contractors responsible for alleged irregularities.
Media reports had alleged that Pawar, who was Water Resource Minister for a decade between 1999 and 2009, had cleared 38 projects worth Rs 20,000 crore in 2009 without clearance of Governing Council of Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation. The economic survey of the state had revealed that only 0.1 per cent additional area was brought under irrigation in a decade despite a whopping sum of 72,000 crore rupees spent during the period. The previous Democratic Front Government had opposed various PILs on irrigation scam, including the one by Jan Manch citing technical reasons.
Later, the High Court had rejected the preliminary objections after perusing the material on record in August last year. The Chief Minister also gave approval to the proposal to conduct an open inquiry into allegations of corruption and favouritism against former Public Works Department Minister Chhagan Bhujbal in construction of Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi and two other government buildings in Mumbai built under Private-Public Partnership.
