Nawab Malik resigns after panel indictment

State labour minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) member Nawab Malik tendered his resignation today after the PB Sawant commission report indicted him for corrupt practices.

According to a source, the commission's report, that will be tabled by the state government during the ensuing Budget session of the state legislature, has not only cast aspersions on two of the three NCP ministers, but also on senior party leaders.

In the case of Malik, the commission has observed: "The decision taken by the minister was apparently done to please his party bosses.... The ministers actions amount to corrupt practises."

Prior to this, the report makes a direct reference to senior NCP leader and spokesperson Gurunath Kulkarni and Uday Desai (another NCP functionary) as being responsible for the minister obliging a private developer in obvious violation of the Bombay High Court order.

Malik said today that he was resigning as he found it difficult to function efficiently in an atmosphere of suspicion.

"I will submit documents before the state legislature in the forthcoming session that clearly show that the decisions favouring the private developer in the Zariwala Chawl in Mahim was taken by the erstwhile Shiv Sena-BJP government. The then chief minister Manohar Joshi and deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde had made these recommendations in writing," Malik told mediapersons.

NCP minister Sureshdada Jain also submitted his resignation yesterday.

The Sawant commission was set up to probe into the allegations of corruption charges against four NCP ministers by social crusader Anna Hazare.