Fadnavis acquitted in case related to non-disclosure of criminal cases

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has been acquitted by a Nagpur court in a case related to the alleged non-disclosure of criminal cases filed against him in his election affidavit. The court ruled that the non-disclosure was an oversight by Fadnavis' lawyer and would not have affected the election outcome. Fadnavis served as Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2014 to 2019.

NAGPUR: A Nagpur court on Friday acquitted Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in a case related to the alleged non-disclosure of criminal cases filed against him in the election affidavit submitted ahead of 2014 assembly elections.

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Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Sangram S Jadhav acquitted Fadnavis after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that the non-disclosure was not deliberate but an oversight on the part of his lawyer. Fadnavis, an MLA from Nagpur, was present in the court virtually. “Both the cases against Fadnavis were of private nature and those would not have made any effect on the poll outcome,” the JMFC Jadhav said in its verdict.

The court passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Nagpur-based lawyer Satish Ukey, who approached the local court on November 14, 2014, seeking initiation of criminal proceedings against Fadnavis for allegedly not disclosing pending cases of cheating and forgery registered against him in 1996 and 1998 in his 2014 poll affidavit.

Ukey sought action against Fadnavis under section 125A of the Representation of People Act, which requires an election candidate to disclose information regarding criminal antecedents in their poll affidavits.

Fadnavis, who served as Maharashtra chief minister from 2014 to 2019, appeared before the court in April this year and refuted the allegations, maintaining that the non-disclosure of the relevant information was an inadvertent mistake on part of his lawyer, who has since been removed from the case. The MLA from Nagpur South West assembly constituency has appeared before the court on two occasions to record his statement in the case.

The deputy chief minister Fadnavis, who was busy holding meetings in Mumbai on the on-going Maratha reservation agitation issue, was not available for comment.

The deputy chief minister’s current advocates Deven Chauhan and Uday Dable said the “complainant (Uke) failed to make out a case against Fadnavis under section 125A of the Representation of People Act”.

Under the section, an offence is made out only when a person hides cases pending against him or her with an intent or knowledge that such a non-disclosure would help them win elections.

Ukey, a lawyer-cum-RTI activist, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate last year on charges of illegally grabbing land in Nagpur. He is currently lodged in Arthur Jail in Mumbai. Both Fadnavis and Ukey appeared online during the hearing on Friday.

A civil court in Nagpur first heard Ukey’s complaint in 2014, and ruled against Fadnavis. However, this ruling was overturned by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay high court.

The advocate then challenged the HC order before the Supreme Court in 2019, which held that a case was made for the prosecution of the BJP leader. The top court, therefore, set aside the high court judgment and remanded the matter for trial afresh.

Fadnavis later filed a review petition against this order, which the apex court dismissed in 2020, and the matter was transferred to the local court in Nagpur.