DNA: Mumbai: Friday, May 09, 2014.
The
Maharashtra government has assured the Bombay high court on Thursday that it
will decide within two weeks whether the complaint of alleged land grab filed
by slain RTI activist Satish Shetty against Virendra Mhaiskar, chairman and
managing director of Ideal Road Builders (IRB) Infrastructure Developers
Limited, should be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A division
bench of Justice NH Patil and Justice Anuja Prabhudessai asked the government
to decide expeditiously since they have been sitting on the CBI application for
quite some time now.
As per the
Delhi Police Establishment Act, which governs the CBI, the bureau can take over
any investigation provided the order to that effect is passed either by a high
court or a state government.
CBI counsel
Hiten Venegaonkar said that on March 18, 2014, the Judicial Magistrate First
Class (JMFC), Maval, had reopened Shetty's complaint against Mhaiskar while
setting aside the closure report filed by the local police.
Consequently,
the local police have to re-investigate Shetty's complaint afresh.
The CBI,
which is probing the murder of the slain RTI activist, had approached the
government in March saying that they should be allowed to take over the probe
in Shetty's complaint against Mhasikar.
The central
agency also filed a petition in the high court praying that they should be
handed over the probe in Shetty's complaint as well. "The CBI has sought
permission to conduct a fresh probe, saying that the investigation by the local
police is faulty," argued Venegaonkar.
In October
2009, Shetty filed a complaint with the Lonavla city police against 13 people,
including Mhaiskar and a sub-registrar, alleging land grab.
Shetty had
alleged that land acquired by the government for the Mumbai-Pune Expressway,
for which compensation was paid, was re-sold by the original owners to Aryan Infrastructure
and Investment an IRB Group company.
However, the
local police filed a closure report in September 2011 saying that the police
did not find any evidence to substantiate Shetty's allegations.
The high
court had set aside the closure report and asked the JMFC to consider the same
afresh. The JMFC set aside the closure report in March.
Shetty was
stabbed to death near his house on January 13, 2010, when he had stepped out
for morning walk.
The
government has to inform the high court of its decision by June 19.
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