Maha poll affidavit case: Fadnavis gets exemption for 4th time

A court in Nagpur on Monday granted exemption from appearance to BJP leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in a complaint seeking criminal proceedings against him for non-disclosure of cases in his election affidavit.

This is the fourth time Fadnavis has been granted exemption, with Chief Judicial Magistrate P S Ingle stating that it has been granted as "last chance".

The court was hearing an application filed by advocate Satish Uke seeking criminal proceedings against Fadnavis for alleged non-disclosure of criminal cases registered against him in his election affidavit in 2014.

Fadnavis' lawyer, Uday Dable, sought exemption on the ground that his client, who is the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, had to attend the 'Vidhan Sabha Salagaar Committee' meeting on Monday.

Uke's lawyer Sudeep Jaiswal opposed the plea and sought for a non-bailable warrant to be issued against Fadnavis.

After hearing both sides, the court granted exemption as 'last chance' to Fadnavis and set the next hearing on February 20.