Maharashtra housing scam: Ex-state minister awarded 7-yr jail, fined ₹100 cr; 47 others convicted

Mumbai

Mumbai

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Former Maharashtra ministers Suresh Jain and Gulabrao Deokar were found guilty for their involvement in the multi-crore ‘Gharkul’ housing scam and sentenced to jail for seven years and five years, respectively, by a Dhule sessions court on Saturday. As many as 46 others, including some former municipal councillors and officials, were also given jail terms between three and seven years by the court.

Special judge Srushti Neelkanth also imposed a fine of Rs100 crore on Shiv Sena leader Jain for irregularities in the Rs29-crore housing project scam when he was state housing minister in the 1990s.

Soon after the court pronounced its verdict, all 48 convicts, who were present in the court, were taken into custody.

Before delivering her judgement, the special judge asked the lawyers of the accused whether they had anything to say.

The lawyers pleaded that their clients were not guilty, had nothing to do with the scam, many were ill or aged, and should be pardoned.

Demanding punishment for all accused, special public prosecutor Pravin Chavan forcefully argued that the accused had conspired and committed the crime in a cohesive manner, passed a resolution for promoting a housing scheme when there was no suitable space available with the intention to profit from public money.

Besides Jain and Deokar, there were a total of 52 accused in the sensational case, including Pradeep Raisoni, Jagannath Vani, Raja Mayur and several municipal councilors and officials. Three accused died during the pendency of the trial and one is still absconding.

The case, which was originally being tried in Jalgaon, was transferred by the Supreme Court to Dhule to prevent influencing of witnesses and ensure fairness.

Jain was arrested in March 2012 for the scam perpetrated when he was a minister in the previous Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government (1995-1999), and was jailed for over a year before being released on bail. Former NCP minister Deokar was arrested in May 2012 and spent around three years behind bars before getting bail. He was a councillor in the Jalgaon Municipal Council between 1995 and 2000.

The duo, along with the other 50 accused, had favoured Khandesh Builders who were awarded a prestigious affordable housing project for slum dwellers under the Gharkul scheme in 1999.

Of the planned 11,000 homes, only 1,500 were completed and the then municipal commissioner of Jalgaon, Pravin Gedam lodged a police complaint in February 2006.

The Jalgaon Municipal Council had availed a loan of Rs110 crore from the HUDCO for the housing scheme, slated to come up in various localities in the city in northern Maharashtra.

By 2001, the irregularities running into crores of rupees, unreasonable delays in the project, lack of action against the builder and contractors, and other aspects were exposed.

After the original complaint was lodged, the Jalgaon Police investigated the case for six years and it emerged that the payments made to the builder were routed to companies actually controlled by Jain, his family and associates.

The scam was also probed by different commissions of enquiry and social crusader Anna Hazare had raised the issue.

“It is good to see that a politician is convicted in a corruption case, albeit after 20 years. We have seen many ministers and politician facing corruption charges but this is perhaps the first case of conviction of a politician. Jain has always been in controversies over corruption charges, but still political parties have always been eager to induct him in the party to gain control in Jalgaon,” said political analyst Hemant Desai.

Satish Patil, NCP’s district president, said, “We respect the honourable court and accept the verdict, but Deokarsaab has maintained since the beginning that he signed the proposal under pressure as a head of local body two decades ago. I do not know if his stand effectively came before the court, but eventually the court verdict is supreme.”

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Mumbai A sessions court in Maharashtra’s Dhule district on Saturday sentenced former state ministers Suresh Jain and Gulabrao Deokar along with 46 others to varying jail terms between seven and three years after convicting them in the multi-crore ‘Gharkul’ housing scam.

Special Judge Srushti Neelkanth sentenced Jain to seven years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore on him.

Deokar was given a five-year sentence, while the remaining 46 convicts got jail terms between three and seven years.

Apart from Jain and Deokar, the accused include some former municipal councillors and officials.

Soon after the court pronounced its verdict, all 48 convicts, who were present in the court, were taken into custody.

Shiv Sena leader Jain was arrested in March 2012 for a Rs 29-crore housing project scam when he was state minister of home in the 1990s.

He spent over a year in jail before securing bail from the Supreme Court.

NCP leader Deokar was arrested in May 2012. He spent three years in jail before securing bail. He was a councillor in the Jalgaon Municipal Council between 1995 and 2000.

They were accused of favouring a builder and indulging in irregularities to the tune of Rs 29 crore.

Jain had favoured Khandesh Builders, which was given a contract to build tenements under the Gharkul scheme.

Former municipal commissioner of Jalgaon, Pravin Gedam, had registered a complaint in this regard in February 2006.

Of the 5,000 houses that were to be developed on the outskirts of Jalgaon, only 1,500 were completed.