There is no nexus between politicians and the underworld, the state government told the Bombay high court on Friday. Public prosecutor Pandurang Pol gave the government’s reply to the public interest litigation (PIL) demanding an enquiry in to the statements made by revenue minister Narayan Rane after the 26/11 terror attacks. Rane had alleged that some state politicians had assisted the terrorists and the some politicians have a nexus with the underworld.
A division bench of justice Ranjana Desai and Justice Vijaya Tahilramani reserved the PIL for judgment. The PIL has been filed by a Solapur-based Shiv Sena activist Purshottam Barde. The petitioner wants Rane to disclose his source of information and names of the politicians who are involved with the underworld.
The court observed that politicians daily issue statements and the court can’t take notice of every such statement. “You should not take political leaders seriously,” said Justice Ranjana Desai. The court, however, questioned the steps taken by the state government on observations and conclusions made by the Vohra Committee post the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts.
Rane while making the statements had cited Vohra committee’s report, which had observed that Dawood Ibrahim had political connections. “My client is equally concerned about security of the nation as any other citizen. Central government is also investigating the issue at the highest level,” said senior counsel Rafiq Dada, who is representing Rane.
The Centre’s counsel Usha Kejariwal informed the court that the purpose of setting up the Vohra committee was to find out linkage of Dawood gang with the 1993 blasts. “The committee made certain conclusions, but no recommendations were made,” said Kejariwal.
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