The Opposition on Thursday asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to sack Housing Minister Prakash Mehta in the wake of a news story about Lokayukta Justice M.L. Tahaliyani’s report, which allegedly passed stringent strictures against the minister over his role in the Tardeo MP Mill Compound slum redevelopment case.
Mr. Mehta, in his defence, said since he has not seen the report, he will not be able to comment as the news report is based only on sources and it is important to verify whether information from sources is authentic.
Jayant Patil, State president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), said, “The CM had given a clean chit to the minister even before the inquiry. Will he act now and stop supporting him since the Lokayukta has found him guilty in the case?”
Leader of the Opposition in the State Council, Dhananjay Munde, said the report has exposed the CM as well. “We will not let the legislature function until the minister is sacked,” he said.
NCP’s national spokesperson Nawab Malik raised questions over the conduct of Mr. Fadnavis in the case. “In this case, Mr. Fadnavis too had offered to be part of the investigation. Mr. Mehta had made a note on the file saying he was forwarding it after discussing it with the CM. Did the Lokayukta consult the CM? If he did, what was the outcome? If there is a suspicion around Mr. Mehta, what about the CM? Because the note on the file points to his involvement too,” said Mr. Malik.
Mr. Malik said since the Lokayukta’s inquiry and report in the MP Mill Compound case appears incomplete, the NCP stands by its earlier demand that there should be a judicial inquiry in the matter and all those involved should be punished. The Congress too raised the demand, saying it was pressure from the Opposition that resulted in the Lokayukta’s inquiry. “The government must come clean as to when it received the report and why it is being kept hidden,” said Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant.
As per the media report, the Lokayukta, while passing strictures against Mr. Mehta, said he failed to act in a fair and diligent manner and that his conduct was questionable in the case.
Mr. Mehta had allegedly sanctioned a proposal allowing extra building rights granted to slum dwellers to be transferred to a scheme for project-affected people, in violation of Development Control rules. On the file, he had written, “The Chief Minister has been informed.” Following news reports, Mr. Fadnavis stayed the proposal.
Reacting to the report, Mr. Fadnavis said, “We have received the Lokayukta report. We will be tabling the action taken report in the Assembly. It is the prerogative of the House to talk about it and therefore I will not be commenting more on this. Everything will be clear once the report is tabled.”
