ACB gives clean chit to Khadse, stage set for his return to Cabinet

In a development that may pave way for his return to the State Cabinet, Maharashtra’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has given a clean chit to senior BJP leader and former minister Eknath Khadse in the alleged Pune land scam case.

Official sources said here on Tuesday that the ACB filed a final report before a Pune court on Monday, stating that it had not been able to prove allegations of corruption against Khadse in the land case.  

It may be recalled that on June 4, 2016, Khadse had resigned from his post as the State Revenue Minister over irregularities in the purchase of a plot of land at Bhosari in Pune district.Acting on a directive by the Bombay HC on March 8, 2017, the State ACB had registered a case against Khadse for alleged misuse of office and corruption sections 23 (1), 1 (D), (2), (15) of Prevention of Corruption Act and section 109 (abetment) IPC and the ACB had investigated the case involving the purchase of a plot of land at Bhosari at a cheaper rate.  

The charge against Khadse was that he, his wife Mandakini and son-in-law Girish Chaudhary had hatched a conspiracy and purchased a 3-acre plot of land at Bhosri near Pune owned Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in the name of his kin for Rs 3.75 crore as against the market price of Rs  40 crore. On his part, Khadse had denied that he had indulged in any wrong doing in the Pune land deal case.

Immediately after the reports of the State ACB having given Khadse a clean chit in the Pune land scam case, noted activist and erstwhile AAP leader Anjali Damania said that she would move the Bombay HC against the “clean chit” given by the ACB to the former Maharashtra Minister,

 “This is how BJP saves their Corrupt Ministers I had given all proofs in Bhosari land to ACB in Aug 17. If the ACB has given a CLEAN CHIT to Shri Khadse, I will challenge it in High Court immediately,” Damania tweeted.

A judicial committee, headed by retired Bombay HC judge Dinkar Zoting, appointed by the Maharashtra Government earlier to probe the allegations of corruption against Khadse, had given a clean chit to the Pune land deal case. Khadse has so far been given clean chits in two other cases. Maharashtra Lokayukta Justice (Retd) M L Tahaliyani had given a clean chit to Eknath Khadse in the bribery case involving his "personal assistant" Gajanan Patil, while the State Anti Terrorism Squad (ACB) had cleared Khadse of his alleged links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Despite clean chits in various cases, Khadse had virtually become a persona non-grata within the BJP for nearly two years. So much so that on January 25 this year,  Khadse had cited a soulful Lata Mangeshkar number from a 1966 film to express to express his anguish and said that he was being forced to leave the party.

Minutes after Khadse rendered memorable lines ‘Rehte the kabhi dil me jinke, Jaan se bhi pyaron ki tarah, Baithe hai unhi ke kunche me, Hum aaj gunehgaron ki tarah’ penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri in classic Bollywood film “Mamta” at a public function, Maharashtra Congress chief and State’s Ex CM Ashok Chavan had  invited the senior BJP leader to his party.

Sharing a public platform with Chavan on the occasion of senior Congress leader Rajiv Patil’s 61st birthday celebrations at Jalgaon in north Maharashtra, Khadse said:  “If Nathabahu (as Khadse is popularly known in the state political circles) has committed any corruption,  I would like the Maharashtra government to bring it out before the people without any further delay. I have absolutely no interest in quitting the BJP. But, efforts are being made to throw me out of the BJP. Please do not force me to quit the party”. 

There have been many occasions when he has spoken indirectly about the humiliation he has been suffering within the ruling BJP. On their party, the Opposition Congress and NCP leaders have been making overtures to Khadse to join their respective parties.  

Given that Khadse continues to be a force to reckon with in north Maharashtra and that he will come in handy for the party in the 2019 elections,  official sources said that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis might consider taking back the senior BJP leader into his Cabinet.