HC dismisses Safelkar partners’ plea

Nagpur: In a setback to don Ranjeet Safelkar and his associates, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Thursday refused to stay the demolition of his sprawling property, including a banquet hall and a lawn at Kamptee.
“This is a case which has a criminal colour requiring deeper investigation and also other factors which presently don’t favour the petitioners,” a division bench comprising justices Sunil Shukre and Avinash Gharote said, before dismissing the petition filed by Sunil Agrawal and others, who are Safelkar’s partners.
The property was purchased jointly by Safelkar and two petitioners through a sale deed on May 20, 2015. Branding Safelkar as a “notorious criminal”, the bench noted that various offences under IPC and MCOCA were registered against him, including a murder.
“In these crimes, the allegation is that Safelkar has grabbed various parcels of lands from unfortunate owners by employing coercive methods. Therefore, serious police action has been initiated for demolishing the properties, which have been alleged to be obtained by using the proceeds of crime. We find that this is not a fit case wherein this court should make any intervention by exercising its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,” the judges said before dismissing the plea.