Mumbai : The Bombay High Court today gave Maharashtra government its last chance to file an affidavit in response to a petition alleging corruption in allottment of parking slots.
After this development, Geeta Shastri, the lawyer representing Maharashtra government, sought three weeks to do so, claiming the state’s reply had been drafted and sent to the concerned department for its approval.
However, calling it a “delaying tactic” of the state government until the model code of conduct is in place for the assembly elections, petitioner Praveen Wategaonkar pleaded that further time should not be given. The bench of Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode gave the state a last chance to file its affidavit by August 14. Earlier, the bench had refused to grant stays on pending proposals for allottment of public parking slots in the city and suburbs, saying that it would first hear the parties before deciding on pleas to grant stays.
The petition has demanded an investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act and a direction to the state government to submit details of proposals sanctioned so far. The petitioner filed an additional affidavit on June 25, alleging information obtained through the RTI Act showed files about allotment were kept pending by the Chief Minister’s office for three to 14 months even after scrutiny by officials concerned. -PTI
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