SC sends notice to Maha CM Devendra Fadnavis for not declaring criminal cases
The applicant alleged that Fadnavis had suppressed information about two pending criminal cases against him while submitting his nomination from South West assembly constituency in 2009 & 2014 (Picture: The Munsif Daily)
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on a plea seeking his disqualification for alleged non-disclosure of pending criminal cases against him in his nomination papers.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph sought response of the chief minister on an appeal filed against a Bombay High Court order.
The Bombay High Court had dismissed the plea of one Satish Ukey seeking annulment of Fadanavis’s election to the Maharashtra Assembly on the ground of alleged non-disclosure of all pending criminal cases against him.
Ukey had earlier filed a criminal revision application under Section 397 of CrPC in the court of Judicial Magistrate in Nagpur. After it was dismissed, he approached the Sessions Court which directed the Judicial Magistrate to reconsider.
The CM challenged the Sessions Court decision in Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court, which dismissed the case by upholding the Judicial Magistrate’s decision. Ukey then challenged the HC’s decision in the Supreme Court.
In the application, Ukey alleged that Fadnavis had suppressed the information about two pending criminal cases against him while submitting his nomination from South West assembly constituency in 2009 and 2014.
The petitioner had contended that Fadnavis’ act was a clear violation of Section 125-A of Representation of People’s Act, 1951.
The two cases were filed against Fadnavis in 1996 and 1998 having allegations of cheating and forgery, and the MLA had furnished PR bond of Rs 3,000 in one of them, the petitioner claimed.
It included a regular criminal case (No. 343/2003) filed by Madanlal Parate against Shashikant Hastak where Fadnavis was the fourth respondent.
However earlier this year, the state government responded to the report and said there are no cases against the CM.
“These cases were from the election affidavit filed during the 2014 assembly elections. At present (in 2018), there is no case pending against the Maharashtra chief minister,” a senior official from the CMO said.
