SC not to interfere with HC order for SIT probe against Bhujbal

The Supreme Court Monday declined to interfere with Bombay High Court order directing SIT probe into the allegations of kickbacks against former Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal, his family members and employees of his educational trust.

Bhujbal, of the Nationalist Congress Party, was PWD minister in Congress-NCP government which was voted out of power in 2014 state assembly elections.

Declining to entertain a plea by Iram T. Shaikh challenging the Dec 18, 2014 order of Bombay High Court directing probe by SIT into the allegations of graft, a bench of Chief Justice H.L.Dattu and Justice A.K.Sikri said: "No. We will not entertain it."

The court did not accept the plea by senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi contending that the high court should not entertained the plea by Aam Aadmi Party which was motivated at gaining political mileage through judicial proceedings.

Directing the probe by SIT into the allegation of wrongdoings and graft, the high court had said that it had to take up the matter as no steps were taken by the state government for more than a year after allegations were made. The court had noted that probe into allegation started only after a PIL was moved before it.

The high court had given SIT - comprising the officials of the Enforcement Directorate and Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau - time till Feb 28 to complete the probe and file its report.

The AAP in its PIL had alleged that as PWD minister, Bhujbal had awarded contracts to some private companies and in return kickbacks were routed to his educational trust - Mumbai Educational Trust.

Recently Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis agreed to the to Anti-Corruption Bureau proposal for probe in the allegation of corruption and wrong doings against Bhujbal in the construction of new Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi and other buildings belonging to the State government.