Police probe against Solanki

In yet another setback to fisheries minister Parshottam Solanki, a local court in Gandhinagar has ordered an enquiry into the alleged Rs400-crore scam under Section 202 of the CrPC and asked the police to submit a report within six weeks.

This is the first case in the history of Gujarat in which a sitting minister is facing criminal investigation in a corruption case.

Judge GK Upadhyay of the special court of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), asked the Gandhinagar police chief to conduct an inquiry after the petitioner, Ishaq Maradia, sought Solanki’s prosecution for the alleged scam. The minister had allegedly indulged in corruption in award of contracts worth Rs400 crore for fishing at state reservoirs over the last 10 years.  “The court has asked the Gandhinagar district superintendent of police (DSP) to enquire into the case and submit a report within six weeks. The court has posted further hearing of the case on October 6,” said Mukul Sinha, counsel for Maradia.