AHMEDABAD: In a relief for the fisheries minister Parshottam Solanki, the Gujarat high court on Wednesday quashed two cases against him registered in in different police stations, for bribery in Jasdan and for influencing election process in Bhavnagar city.
While quashing bribery charges against Solanki, Justice Gita Gopi observed, “Citizens view corruption in political life more serious and onerous as compared to private life. Such charges of corruption have serious impact on voting behaviour during election times. Candidates running for election, under a cloud of scandal, are more vulnerable since citizens do not clearly separate public from private roles.”
In the case of alleged bribery, on April 22, 2014, a flying squad of the election commission found Rs 2.75 lakh cash with Solanki when he landed at Jasdan as BJP’s star campaigner ahead of assembly bypolls. Since he could not explain why he was carrying the amount more than the permissible limit, a complaint was filed with Jasdan police. After police’s inquiry report, a magisterial court in December 2015 ordered to register an NC complaint against the then minister under Section 171E of the IPC for bribery as the money was construed for the purpose of enticing the voters.
Solanki had approached the HC through advocate Rajesh Gidiya in 2016 and argued that the money belonged to his son Divyesh who too was accompanying him. Moreover, the cash was being carried by his security personnel and it was for his son’s business purpose. He supplied bank transaction details in support of his argument. The money was not distributed among voters and hence the magistrate erred in ordering the complaint against him, he submitted.
The state government opposed Solanki’s quashing petition and asserted that the lower court’s order for registration of complaint against the BJP leader was justified. After hearing the case, Justice Gita Gopi accepted Solanki’s arguments and observed that in such cases “the court has to balance the interest of the petitioner – one as a common litigant and the other as a representative of the people”. The court further said, “Political environment plays an important part in shaping popular understanding of what is corrupt.”