Mumbai, Sep 24 (UNI) In a significant legal vindication for Maharashtra Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal, a special MP/MLA court in Mumbai on Thursday discharged him and five others in the high-profile 2015 Kalina central library corruption case.
The ruling brings a decisive end to a decade-long anti-corruption battle, absolving the veteran politician of long-standing charges that had shadowed his tenure as the state's Public Works Department (PWD) minister. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) originally registered the case in June 2015, alleging that Bhujbal abused his official ministerial position to award a central library construction contract at Mumbai University's Kalina campus to Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd.
State investigators asserted that leasing out a prime 4-acre university land parcel on long-term terms for nominal fees generated an estimated financial loss of Rs 79 crore. Prompted by a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Anjali Damania, investigators scrutinized Rs 5 crore transferred in two tranches to a welfare trust linked to Bhujbal's family, framing the amounts as illicit kickbacks.
The special court also discharged several senior former PWD officials, including former secretary MS Shah, undersecretary Sanjay Solanki, and engineers Anilumar Gaikwad, Harish Patil, and Gajanan Sawant. This resolution closes out the final major ACB proceeding pending against Bhujbal in special courts, adding to prior judicial clearances he secured in the Maharashtra Sadan construction and related money-laundering matters.
While the detailed, reasoned order is yet to be formally issued, the sweeping discharge marks a major turning point in the high-profile political prosecution.
UNI NEP SAS
