14 years on, 28 Thane corporators to be prosecuted for corruption

Twenty-eight corporators from Thane Municipal Corporation will be prosecuted, nearly 14 years after the Nandlal Committee indicted them for rampant irregularities in functioning of the civic body, reports HT Correspondent.

Twenty-eight corporators from Thane Municipal Corporation will be prosecuted, nearly 14 years after the Nandlal Committee indicted them for rampant irregularities in functioning of the civic body.

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Public prosecutor Pandurang Pol told the Bombay High Court on Friday that the state government has on March 19 accorded sanction to prosecute 28 corporators and three contractors figuring in two FIRs lodged with the Naupada police in July 2000.

The prosecutor was responding to a public interest litigation filed by social activist Anna Hazare, who has sought criminal action against all the corporators, TMC officials and contractors indicted by the committee.

Hazare’s lawyer S.S. Deshmukh pointed out that the police had sought sanction to prosecute accused figuring in four FIRs but the state accorded sanction only in two cases. The court has sought an explanation from the state.

One case relates to a hanging gallery erected in a lake, which was later converted into a hotel.

The civic body had advanced Rs 47.35 lakh to the contractor but nothing has been recovered from him. The other case relates to asphalting of roads in Thane for which extra Rs 42.69 lakh was given to the contractors.

Constituted in 1996, the committee had examined 13 matters involving large-scale illegalities and recommended action in 12 of them.

Acting on the recommendations of the committee, Thane Municipal Corporation had lodged 12 FIRs with the Naupada police.

The police, however, found evidence only in four cases.

One of the proposals was forwarded to the state in 2003 and remaining three in 2004.

The state had referred the matter back to the general body of the municipal corporation, which rejected the proposals in November 2007.