MLA didn’t disclose FIR against him: Plea to EC

Activist Pravin Wategaonkar has filed a petition with the chief electoral officer (CEO) against Shyamsunder Shinde, a retired IAS officer who was elected as an MLA

Activist Pravin Wategaonkar has filed a petition with the chief electoral officer (CEO) against Shyamsunder Shinde, a retired IAS officer who was elected as an MLA from Loha, claiming he allegedly did not disclose the details of a first information report (FIR) registered against him by the anti-corruption bureau in 2017. Shinde is supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The petitioner has demanded his election as a Peasants and Workers Party MLA be declared void and criminal prosecution be initiated against him.

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Shyamsunder Shinde said, “Neither was a charge sheet filed in the said case, nor were charges framed against me. Hence, there was no need to mention the information in the affidavit, as per the Act. Secondly, I have challenged the FIR in the court and have also brought my wrongful prosecution to the notice of the housing and law and judiciary department. The election affidavit was filed only after due legal opinion and as required in the format provided by the election commission.”

Wategaonkar, in his petition, alleged said Shinde was named an accused in a scam related to a plot allotted for a housing society and was booked under section 420, 409, 471 of the Indian Penal Code and section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. He alleged Shinde was the chief officer (CO) of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) when the scam came to light. He claimed a petition related to the land scam was pending in the Bombay High Court, which has ordered a special inquiry team to investigate the case.

Officers in the CEO said the petitioner will be asked to approach either the court or file an FIR against the MLA. “We will send it back to the petitioner along with the format in which he needs to make a complaint,” said an official.

“The said plot in Oshiwara was allocated to a housing society promoted by an ex-MP and an ex-MLA in the names of the members. The plot was later converted for commercial use after Shinde, as a chief officer of Mhada, illegally gave permission for its conversion. Shinde has not revealed the information about the pending case against him in his election affidavit while filing the nomination,” said Wategaonkar.