The Bombay High Court has asked the Superintendent of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to reply to the petition filed by MLA Pratap Sarnaik of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, seeking sanction to prosecute former Thane Municipal Commissioner (TMC) RA Rajeev for corruption.
Rajeev has retired from service but Sarnaik’s plea has sought that he be tried under the Prevention of Corruption Act as the alleged acts were committed when he was in service.
Sarnaik’s petition alleges that Rajeev had ordered the interior decoration of his office and adjoining offices as TMC chief; this comes under the purview of corruption. Sarnaik had sought sanction from the government to prosecute the ex-official but it was denied.
During the hearing on Friday, Sarnaik’s advocate pointed out that the ACB had filed affidavits on Aug 1, 2013 and Aug 26, 2013, stating that a discreet inquiry against Rajeev is underway.
The MLA had filed a Right to Information (RTI) query before the Urban Development Department (UDD) on Feb 10, 2015, seeking all the details of a high-level inquiry. He received a reply from the UDD on Feb 11, 2015, that no high-level inquiry was being conducted.
A division bench of Justices NW Sambre and RN Laddha questioned how prosecution could be initiated in absence of material.
However, the court noted the discrepancy between the affidavits and the RTI reply and asked the ACB to provide its stand on the issue.
Earlier, Rajeev had filed an affidavit alleging that Sarnaik’s petition was only a “counterblast” to the actions taken by him against the MLA’s business establishments when he was TMC chief.
