For the first time in the history of Gujarat, the Governor has given her sanction for the prosecution of a Minister for his alleged involvement in a scam, ignoring the recommendation of the State government.
Governor Kamla Beniwal’s sanction against the Minister of State for Fisheries Purshottam Solanki was presented before the Gujarat High Court on Monday. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act is expected to be filed against Mr. Solanki soon for allegedly causing a loss of Rs. 400 crore to the State Exchequer while awarding fishing contracts without inviting tenders.
According to legal experts, if a criminal case is registered against the Minister, he will be forced to resign and can also be prevented from contesting the Assembly elections scheduled later this year, severely affecting the BJP vote bank. Considered to be a strong leader of the Kolis, Mr. Solanki holds considerable sway in the community, mostly fishermen, due to which the Narendra Modi government was reluctant to give its sanction for inquiry against the Minister and recommended the Governor reject it. Mr. Solanki, who hails from Bhavnagar, had spent most of his time in Mumbai and was also among those indicted by the Srikrishna commission for involvement in the Mumbai riots earlier.
The sanction granted against Mr. Solanki can further extend the stand-off between the Modi government and Ms. Beniwal, whose relationship soured earlier over the appointment of Justice R.A. Mehta, a retired judge of the High Court, as a Lokayukta member despite opposition by the Chief Minister last year. The case is pending before the Supreme Court after the government challenged the High Court’s majority judgment holding the appointment of Justice Mehta by the Governor valid and constitutional.
A division bench of the High Court on March 30 directed the State government to take a decision within three months on sanction for prosecution against Mr. Solanki, failing which the final call on the sanction would be taken by the Governor. However, minutes before the deadline was to expire on June 30, the government informed the High Court that the State Cabinet did not find any merit in the complaint of irregularities and refused sanction against the Minister. On a contempt of court petition by the complainant, a division bench of the High Court comprising Justices Jayant Patel and C.L. Soni earlier this month ordered the government that all relevant papers, on which the sanction was denied, be placed before the Governor for examination and a final decision be taken by the Governor.
Lapses seen
Raj Bhavan sources said that on examination, the Governor found that the then Chief Secretary D. Rajagopalan strongly opposed the fishing contracts awarded by the Minister without inviting tenders. In his noting, the then Chief Secretary stated that the Minister had no authority to change the laid-down policy of the government in awarding fishing contracts in dams and reservoirs under government control and only the State Cabinet was authorised to bring about a change in the policy.
Since the contract awarded by the Minister was never placed before the Cabinet for necessary changes in the policy, the contract was thus against the law.
The case was related to fishing contracts for 50 State-owned reservoirs, each of over 200 hectares, granted directly by Mr. Solanki in 2008 without inviting tenders.
The complaint was lodged by one Ishaq Mohammad Maradia.