A charge sheet is likely to be filed within a month against NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal for alleged misappropriation of funds and land grabbing, the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau(ACB) today informed the Bombay High Court.
A division bench of Justices V M Kanade and Revati Mohite Dere today sought progress reports from the ACB and the Enforcement Directorate in four weeks on their probe against Bhujbal and his family members.
It also said that in such cases where the allegations are serious and levelled against people holding important positions, monitoring is necessary.
The court was today informed that the ACB is likely to file the charge sheet in a month against Bhujbal, in two FIRs lodged by it against him and his family members in the Maharashtra Sadan scam and Kalina land grabbing case.
The ED informed the court today that it has registered two Economic Case Information Reports (ECIR) against Bhujbal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), but it can go ahead with the probe and file FIR only after the ACB files its chargesheet.
The ACB further informed the court that in three allegations against Bhujbal, the agency has not found any material that discloses FIR.
Another case was registered by Navi Mumbai police concerning a housing project scam wherein Rs 44 crore were collected from over 2,000 people for houses in a project Hex World, promoted by a realty firm owned by the Bhujbal family.
The High Court had in December 2014 directed setting up a Special Investigation Team (SIT), comprising ACB and ED officials, to probe into 11 different allegations of irregularities relating to money laundering by private companies run by Bhujbal, his sons and relatives.
The direction was passed in a PIL filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) seeking registration of FIR against Bhujbal.
( Source – PTI )
