A social activist has urged the Bombay high court to order an inquiry into the undisclosed source of nearly ₹10 crore spent on chief minister Eknath Shinde’s Dussehra rally held at the MMRDA ground in Bandra Kurla Complex on October 5.
The petitioner, a resident of Kandivali, has claimed that as the Shinde faction is an unregistered party, the details of donors who funded for giving advertisements and teasers on media platforms, hiring state transport (ST) buses to ferry supporters, and providing two lakh food packets to those who attended the rally, need to be investigated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Income Tax Act.
The writ petition has also sought action against the CM’s faction for permitting the use of under-construction Samruddhi highway between Mumbai and Nagpur, for buses and private vehicles to reach the rally venue, without taking permission of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.
The plea is expected to come up for hearing on October 14.
According to the petition filed by Deepak Jagdev last week, the CM was guilty of misusing his position to bring supporters to his Dussehra rally. Over 1,700 ST buses were hired to ferry people from Aurangabad and Hingoli and ₹51,000 was paid per vehicle to the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).
Jagdev referred to the statement of state Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe that if Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party leader Anil Deshmukh could be booked and arrested for allegedly laundering ₹50 lakh and ₹4.5 crore respectively, what about the ₹10 crore spent by Shinde.
The petition claimed as investigating agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police had not undertaken a suo moto investigation into the source of money, he approached the HC.
The Director General of Police should take action against the officials of MSRTC for negligence and those who used the Samruddhi highway, the plea added.