Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil on Monday announced a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) investigation into the allegations levelled by the leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis that conspiracies have been hatched by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to implicate BJP leaders including himself at the office of special public prosecutor Pravin Chavan. He assured the house that nobody will be spared during the probe. The minister during his reply to the debate on law and order in the state assembly also said the sting operation will also be probed.
Walse-Patil told the house that Chavan has resigned as the special public prosecutor.
Pravin Chavan has resigned as the special public prosecutor. "Advocate Pravin Chavan, whose name was raised in the sting operation, has resigned as government advocate. We will verify the details given in the pen drive and CID will carry out the probe. After its report, we will initiate the actions," Walse Patil said.
"This sting operation on Pravin Chavan will be probed. There is no question of supporting anyone involved," said Walse-Patil. However, he has denied Fadnavis’ demand for a CBI probe in the matter.
Fadnavis last week submitted a pen drive containing "proof" to Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal. He had claimed this pen drive comprised video recordings running into 125 hours, showing how conspiracies were hatched by the police and members of the MVA (Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress) to frame BJP leaders, including himself, in false cases at the office of Pravin Chavan.
Fadnavis had said that the video footage showed Chavan talking about how meetings were held at the highest level from the chief minister to state DGP to the police commissioner to frame BJP leader Girish Mahajan under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act and arrest him.
Meanwhile, Walse-Patil has rejected Fadnavis’ demand for the resignation by the NCP Minister Nawab Malik who is currently in jail in connection with a money laundering case. "Malik has been MLA for five times. He was raising his voice against the central probe agencies. The action was taken to suppress his voice,’’ said the minister taunted Fadnavis that it would have been better if he during his five-year tenure as Chief Minister and Home Minister had completed the action against Malik for his alleged links with the underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim.
Walse Patil claimed that the illegal phone tapping between 2015-2019 involved four elected representatives of the BJP. "The phone tapping was done illegally under the garb that phones of drug peddlers have been put under surveillance," he said.
Shiv Sena MLA Bhaskar Jadhav wondered how the contents of the pen drive submitted by Fadnavis to the House found the way in the public domain. "The pen drive is the property of the House. How come its contents are available in the public domain. Is it not the breach of the privilege of the House?" he asked.
Senior NCP leader Jayant Patil said the point raised by Jadhav is valid.
