The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court has said that senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Minister Girish Bapat misused his position.
Justice Ravindra Ghuge rapped Mr. Bapat for quashing a probe against a fair price shop owner in Beed district who was caught selling foodgrains and kerosene in the black market. Justice Ghuge, in his order, said, “The Minister is a custodian and protector of the rights and privileges of citizens. But he has failed in his duty by restoring the licence of a fair price shop operator guilty of glaring misdeeds.”
Sahebrao Waghmare of Beed had lodged a complaint against Vibhishan Mane, the owner of the fair price shop, in 2016. Mr. Waghmare accused Mr. Mane of tampering with records and diverting foodgrains intended for BPL card holders.
In his petition, Mr. Waghmare accused Mr. Mane of pressuring card holders and using his political connection (with Mr. Bapat) to get his licence restored.
Mr. Mane was found guilty and his licence was suspended after multiple investigations on behalf of the Tehsildar of Ambejogai (in Beed district), the District Supply Officer (DSO) and the Deputy Commissioner (Supplies) stationed in Aurangabad.
Yet, Mr. Bapat in April last year, ordered his licence to be restored, citing flimsy grounds “of lack of evidence” against Mr. Mane. In his directive restoring Mr. Mane’s licence, Mr. Bapat ascribed a lack of clarity on part of the investigating officer (the Tehsildar).
While attempting to suppress the probe against Mr. Mane, Mr. Bapat said that there were only 14 card holders who deposed against Mr. Mane and that 57 card holders had stated that they had no complaints against the accused.
However, the High Court, after hearing Mr. Waghmare’s petition, censured Mr. Bapat and restored the probe of the Tehsildar and the DSO. The court’s order read, “It is quite surprising that the same learned Minister continues to pass identical orders with little respect for the majesty of law and the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act.”
The court order said the probe of the Deputy Commissioner (Supplies) cannot be ignored that and that he “had considered the entire record threadbare.” The order reads: “The said authority [Deputy Commissioner (Supplies)] has gone into the details of the complaint. It is recorded that there were 16 card holders who had specifically complained that grains and kerosene are not made available for them. The respondent [Mane] used to threaten the card holders, would avoid distribution of grains on regular basis, and did not tender records for the inspection of the DSO.”
In September 2017, the court had pulled up Mr. Bapat for restoring the licence of a women’s self-help group (SHG) called the ‘Savitribai Phule Mahila Bachat Gat’ from Beed. The SHG was allowed to operate a fair price shop despite facing a criminal case for illegally lifting foodgrains during the period when its licence was suspended.
In that case, the Minister had similarly ordered the SHG’s licence to be restored in March 2015 in a ‘revision process’ after its appeal against cancellation was dismissed by the deputy commissioner (supply) in Aurangabad.
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party has demanded Mr. Bapat’s immediate resignation from the State Cabinet. “The Bombay High Court has censured him several times in the past for turning a blind eye to the illicit activities of fair price shop operators. We demand that the Chief Minister forthwith dismiss Mr. Bapat from his Cabinet,” said NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, who is Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.