No FIR or complaint, had to resign as minister to ensure probe wasn’t influenced: Sanjay Rathod

Speaking to the media, Rathod said his name was cleared by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis after the police gave him clean chit in the alleged suicide case.

He claimed that though he was not involved in the case, he was dragged into it. While no FIR or complaint was filed against him, he had to resign as a minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to ensure that his post did not influence the police probe.

“I have been in public and political life for the last 30 years and my name was dragged (in the case) to destroy my career. I faced it. I resigned to ensure that the police probe does not get affected by the minister’s position. The inquiry is over. I am unblemished and the police have given me a clean chit.”

“My name did not surface anywhere in the police inquiry and based on this, the CM and the deputy CM gave me the opportunity again (to become a minister),” Rathod added.

While there has been a studied silence of the part of the Pune Police on its probe into the allegations against Rathod in connection with the suicide of Pooja Chavan, Shinde had in July announced that the police have given Rathod a clean chit in the case.

Soon after Chavan had jumped off a building in Pune on February 7, last year, Rathod had resigned as the forest minister on February 28. The Pune Police had lodged an Accidental Death Report in the matter even as the Opposition demanded that an FIR be registered.

The 50-year-old four-term MLA from Digras in Yavatmal, Rathod was the only Sena minister from the Vidarbha region in the MVA government. His induction into the Cabinet on Tuesday had taken many by surprise, given the BJP’s protests against him after the suicide, led by Devendra Fadnavis. The BJP had held a series of rallies during the MVA regime, demanding Rathod’s expulsion as minister over his alleged links with woman.

After Rathod’s induction in the Cabinet on Tuesday, BJP state vice-president Chitra Wagh, who had protested against Rathod, had said that she will continue to fight for justice.

On Wagh, Rathod said, “Wagh may not be aware about all the case details and documents… (I) will arrange for the documents to be sent to her if she wishes. The police have conducted an impartial inquiry. I trust the judiciary and the police, hence, I was calm. Now the truth has come out…”.

He added both the petitions filed in the court against him demanding that an FIR be registered against him have been rejected. “There was no FIR… no complaint against me… but because allegations were made, I had to resign as minister. The police conducted a proper investigation. You all can check it with the police,” Rathod said.

He added that though everyone has the right to speak in democracy, “what to speak and what to allege has limitations”. He warned that in the future, he will seek legal action if any baseless allegations are made against him.