Mumbai: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and a worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party have been accused of taking false credit for the repair work of Aarey Colony’s internal roads by a retired Navy personnel, upon whose petition the Bombay High Court had directed the repair works. After the CM inaugurated the repairing work on Saturday, the petitioner has also alleged contempt of court citing the court’s order to refrain from using the work to gain political mileage.
Bombay HC Issues Order
In April, the Bombay High Court had directed multiple authorities to urgently upgrade the internal roads of Aarey Colony while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Binod Agarwal, a retired Indian Navy personnel and a resident of Aarey Colony’s Royal Palms society. Following the court’s order, the Maharashtra Public Works Special Project Division in Aarey issued a work order on September 24 for the repair works at the cost of Rs. 47.98 crores.
About The Petition
However, after the repairing works were inaugurated at early morning on Saturday, Agarwal wrote to the CM alleging that politicians have taken false credits for the work which has started due to the residents of Aarey who took the matter to the court. The letter also includes pictures of banners put up by Maharashtra BJP coordinator Dr. Chander Purswani claiming that the repair work is the result of the correspondence undertaken by him.
“The credit for these repairs rightfully belongs to vigilant residents and stems from an order by the Hon'ble High Court. The order explicitly directed that no inauguration be held in connection with this project. Unfortunately, this situation may inadvertently place you in potential contempt of court,” read Agarwal’s letter to CM Shinde, which also alleged that the work was intentionally delayed to facilitate the inauguration event, “seemingly orchestrated to give undue credit to certain political figures who played no part in this process.”
Election Commission Of India Expresses Its No Objection To The Proposed Repairs
As the petition was heard during the model code of conduct imposed on account of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission of India had expressed its no objection to the proposed repairs with the condition that the work will not be used to gain political mileage. The division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor had orally told the government lawyer to ensure that no inauguration ceremony is held for the repair works.
However, even thought the model code of conduct was lifted in June, Agarwal alleged that holding the inauguration ceremony was a contempt of court. He alleged that the political parties gained mileage and organised an inauguration against the court’s order.
Binod Agarwal, Retired Indian Navy Personnel, Speaks With The Free Press Journal
Talking to The Free Press Journal, Agarwal said, “Their act is a contempt of court’s order and anyways their claims of making the repair works possible is misleading and they are taking false credit for it. When even our elected representatives failed to get the work done, it was the residents like me who took the matter to court and got success after three years. It would have been appropriate if the inauguration had been held in the honor of the residents who fought for this cause.”