In a policy that could be summed up as ‘tit for tat’, the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government will deploy the police, the Economic Offences Wing and the Anti-Corruption Bureau to initiate action against BJP leaders in various cases. Days after former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis dropped his ‘pen drive bomb’ in the assembly, the cyber police on Saturday issued a notice under section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to Fadnavis asking him to appear at their BKC Office on Sunday in the phone-tapping case.
The notice was in connection with a pen drive submitted to the Union home ministry by Fadnavis last year, containing purported conversation on the alleged police transfer racket. This was after the former additional director general of police in charge of state intelligence, Rashmi Shukla, booked for illegal phone tapping, had submitted her report to the former director general of police, Subodh Jaiswal. Thereafter, a three-member committee, headed by the director general of police, had probed the matter and concluded that Shukla had illegally tapped phones, exceeding the permission granted by the home department.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which has been alleging revenge politics by the BJP-led government at the Centre by deploying Central probe agencies against its leaders, has decided to reciprocate by initiating action against BJP leaders by state agencies.
“As the leader of the opposition, I have the privilege of not revealing where I got the information from but I have been home minister in the past and I understand my responsibility. If an offence was falsely registered and if police want some help, I will respond. Therefore, I will go to the police station on Sunday,” said Fadnavis.
“Had the government caught the scamsters and those being probed by the CBI on time and not brushed the matter under the carpet for six months, then I need not have exposed it,” he claimed, adding, “the government wants to protect them and someone who exposed this is being called to the police station.”
However, late on Saturday evening, he said he would not be visiting the BKC police station because he had learnt from the Mumbai police that he would not be required to do so; instead, they would come to his house. “Just received a call from Joint CP,Crime. He told I’m not required to go toBKC police station. Instead, they will only come to take the required information. I have cancelled all my Pune programs for tomorrow. I’ll be at my residence. They can come anytime. Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra!” he tweeted.
The BJP, which had proposed a show of strength at the BKC Cyber Office, will protest against the police again on Sunday.
However, the ruling MVA has strongly justified the action of the police serving Fadnavis a notice for recording his statement in the phone-tapping case. The chief spokesman of the state Congress, Atul Londhe, tweeted, “If Fadnavisji is saying that CRPC 160 is to help in the investigation, then why did not he reply to the questionnaire sent to him by the police? Isn’t demonstration in front of the police station an obstacle in the investigation? Devendraji, are you bigger than the law?”
A senior minister told The Free Press Journal, “MVA leaders are targeted and jailed in alleged corruption cases by Central probe agencies. The BJP has put in place a strategy whereby its leaders first announce the list of MVA leaders said to be under the scanner of Central probe agencies and later, give out the date of arrests. NCP Minister Nawab Malik was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, linking the land transaction to terror funding. This was because he was vocal against the BJP and the Central probe agencies.”
“The names of Transport Minister Anil Parab and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut have also been announced as those staring at arrest. If they have the CBI, ED and income tax, the state government has the police, Economic Offences Wing and the ACB. BJP leaders should not underestimate the powers of these agencies,” he said.
Another minister said the BJP should cease issuing threats and instead, prepare to face action from state agencies. He has ruled out Fadnavis’s claim of a conspiracy against the BJP, saying that the state agencies will take action in accordance with suitable provisions under various laws.
So far, FIRs have been lodged against Union Minister Narayan Rane and his MLA son Nitesh Rane for their statements on Disha Salian. Similarly, police have booked BJP Legislator Prasad Lad under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) registered against him by the EOW in connection with a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) contract. Incidentally, the court has granted the trio protection from arrest till further orders.
