Mumbai: The Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court on Friday slammed Girish Bapat, minister for food and civil supply for misusing his position and flouting norms by restoring the license of the blacklisted fair price shop. Dhananjay Munde, leader of opposition demanded Bapat should be sacked from the cabinet.
Bapat had quashed the probe against Bibhishan Mane, a fair shop owner from Murambi in Ambejogai tehsil of Beed who was caught selling foodgrains and kerosene in the black market. Justice Ravindra Ghuge of the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court’s rapped Bapat and read, “The minister is a custodian and protector of the rights and privileges of citizens. But he has failed in his duty disregarding such rights and by restoring the licence of a fair price shop operator guilty of glaring misdeeds.”
The order against Bapat’s directive was passed after a complaint in the case was lodged by Sahebrao Waghmare of Beed against Mane in 2016. Waghmare had accused Mane of diverting foodgrains intended for Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holders for his own profit and tampering with records. In his petition, Waghmare had further accused Mane of pressurising card holders and using his political connection with Bapat to get his licence restored.
Following multiple investigations on behalf of the Tehsildar of Ambejogai, the District Supply Officer (DSO) and the Deputy Commissioner (Supplies), Aurangabad, Mane was found guilty and his licence was suspended. Yet, Bapat in April last year, ordered his licence to be restored, on the grounds of lack of evidence against Mane. In his directive restoring Mane’s licence, Bapat had stated that there was lack of clarity on the part of the Tehsildar – an investigating officer.
However, the High Court, after hearing Waghmare’s petition, condemned Bapat and restored the probe of the Tehsildar and the DSO. In September 2017, the court had again pulled up Bapat for restoring the licence of a women’s self-help group (SHG) called the ‘Savitribai Phule Mahila Bachat Gat’ from Beed to operate a fair price shop, despite the group facing a criminal case for illegally lifting foodgrains during the period when its licence was suspended.
