E-Paper
Girish Chaudhari’s arrest a step in the right direction, says whistleblower in Eknath Khadse case
The whistleblower in the money laundering case against Eknath Khadse termed the arrest of Khadse’s son-in-law Girish Chaudhari by the Enforcement directorate (ED) a step in the right direction
The whistleblower in the money laundering case against Eknath Khadse termed the arrest of Khadse’s son-in-law Girish Chaudhari by the Enforcement directorate (ED) a step in the right direction.
Hemant Gawande, the whistleblower who brought the case to light, said, “Chaudhari was involved in the sale of deed and the Bombay high court directed to register his name as an accused in the case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been inquiring for the past two years and it seems like a result of that inquiry. This is an open-and-shut case with no hidden points. He (Khadse) was the revenue minister and he directed revenue officers to forge the papers,” said
The investigation following Gawande’s allegation had shown that Khadse had wrongfully acquired the land for ₹3.75 crore whereas the value of the land was more than ₹31 crore. The land located in Bhosari was first acquired from a private citizen in 1971. The original owner of the land was also an accused in the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) case.
In 2017, ACB had lodged an FIR against then revenue minister Khadse, who was with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the time, his daughter Mandakini and son-in-law Chaudhari on the direction of the Bombay HC. In 2020, Khadse left the BJP and joined the Nationalist congress party (NCP).
Reacting to Chaudhari’s arrest, Gawande said, “This is a legal process now. It never was and is still not pleasant news for me, but it does feel like a step in the right direction. Politicians enter politics for serve the people and eventually they forget why they entered the system and the only agenda that remains is earning money. This is bound to happen when money becomes more important. It should be a message to all politicians. I simply exposed this act.”
Lawyer Asim Sarode, who had given some documents to ED regarding the case, said the ED action was following a trail of evidence. Sarode represents anti-corruption activist Anjali Damania who opposed ACB’s clean chit to Khadse in a Pune court in 2019.
“ED is investigating in the right direction. Considering all the documents I have seen and prima facie evidences in the case, it is clearly a case of money laundering and misuse of power and position. He has asked and gotten many documents to be forged by officers working in the revenue department. I have a set of documents which clearly show that he changed many details to benefit him in the purchase of that land. Crores of rupees were siphoned through Mandakini Khadse and Girish Chaudhari. My client Anjali Damania found a pooja-essentials selling kiosk owner in whose name a shell company was formed. She came up with a list of such shell companies created to launder the money, and it was submitted in court. So we opposed the clean chit given to Khade in the Pune court,” said Sarode.
