The state government has drawn the Bombay high court’s ire for seeking adjournment in a case which possibly led to the murder of Pune-based RTI activist Satish Shetty.
“You (government) just want an excuse. You fail to reply to (a) crucial question as to how someone, who received compensation from the government (for land acquisition), managed to sell the land again,” said Justice ML Tahilyani.
The HC was hearing an application by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking permission to reopen and reinvestigate the case based on complaints lodged by Shetty, which were closed by the Pune rural police, terming them baseless.
The HC has sought an explanation from the government as to on what basis the complaints were closed. It had asked the government to file a detailed affidavit and produce all the related documents after it (government) conceded that prima facie the transfer of land seems fraudulent.
The government claimed that the revenue records were ultimately corrected and the case was closed since there was no loss caused to public exchequer.
CBI counsel Hitendra Venegaonkar had said the investigating agency had arrived at a conclusion that the motive behind Shetty’s murder was connected to the complaints lodged by him and, hence, it wants permission to reopen the case.
In October 2009, Shetty had filed a complaint with the Lonavala city police station against 13 people, including the CMD of IRB Group, which has constructed the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, and a sub-registrar.
Shetty had alleged that the land acquired by the government for the expressway, for which compensation was paid, was re-sold by the original owners to Aryan Infrastructure and Investment, an IRB Group company.
Shetty was stabbed to death in broad daylight near his residence at Talegaon Dabhade on January 13, 2010, when he had stepped out for a morning walk.
After Shetty’s brother Sandip moved a writ petition in the high court, the case was transferred to CBI, which is investigating the case since 2011.
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