City-based lawyer Asim Sarode has complained to the Income Tax Department to probe the lavish wedding ceremony of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Santosh Danve, son of Maharashtra BJP chief Raosaheb Danve.
In a letter to the I-T authorities, Mr. Sarode has urged them to look into the extravagant display of wealth at the wedding, which took place on March 3 in Aurangabad, in the State’s Marathwada region, and was attended by 40,000 people, including the State Cabinet led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The younger Mr. Danve, who represents the Bhokardan constituency in Jalna district, married the daughter of well-known musician and composer Rajesh Sarkate. The marriage pandal was constructed at a cost of ₹1 crore, while ₹1.5 lakh was spent on the wedding invites.
The top hotels in Aurangabad city were booked well in advance, with charter planes and special bookings on Air India Flights done by the Danve family.
Mr. Sarode said in his letter, “By special order, all vacations and leaves of police officers from the Aurangabad police department were cancelled and they were following only one duty — to monitor the smooth function and provide security at the marriage. To facilitate easy access of VIPs, the Beed by-pass road was closed for common people.”
The letter states that the lavish show-off of money is sufficient for the I-T Department to investigate the source of funding and determine whether unaccountable money was used in violation of the Money Laundering Act.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Sarode said Mr. Danve’s reception for his son was especially shameful in backdrop of a raging agrarian distress in the parched Marathwada region.
“As per the Aurangabad Revenue Department, it is estimated that at least 117 farmers committed suicide in the region during the last two months. It is therefore incumbent on Raosaheb Danve and his son Santosh to present true facts before the public on whether they have organised the wedding in a ‘cashless’ way,” he said.
“Such exorbitant marriage ceremonies create an acute feeling of discrimination in a society where a majority people are economically deprived. It is pertinent to note that some States in India, like Haryana, have taken a positive step to stop the large spending on such political marriage ceremonies,” Mr. Sarode said, remarking that the State government ought to make use of Section 10 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 to frame its own set of strict rules.
