Devendra Fadnavis refutes claims of any wrongdoing in poll affidavit in court

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis appeared in court on Saturday in connection with a complaint seeking action against him for alleged non-disclosure of criminal offences in his electoral affidavit in 2014 and refuted all claims.

Fadnavis' statement was recorded in writing in accordance with Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Under this rule, the court asks questions to the accused on the evidence relied upon by the complainant in the case.

Fadnavis came before Civil Judge AV Deshmukh at 12 noon with his counsel, and they were presented with 35 pages of questions.

Devendra Fadnavis jotted down all the answers after consulting with his lawyers.

The BJP leader denied all of the charges in the lawsuit and stated that he had committed no "crime or misconduct", said the lawyer.

Fadnavis left the court premises after one and a half hours. The court posted the matter for final arguments on May 6.

Advocate Satish Uke filed the complaint demanding criminal proceedings against Fadnavis, stating that instances of cheating and forgery were registered against the BJP leader in 1996 and 1998, but he failed to disclose this information in his poll affidavit before the 2014 assembly elections.

Uke is currently incarcerated after being apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate on suspicion of money laundering.

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