‘Ex-CM Vilasrao Deshmukh should pay fine’

The Union heavy industries minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh’s, favouring a legislator involved in money-lending business when he was holding the office of chief minister has found more opposition.

City’s civic activists have launched an online signature campaign demanding that Deshmukh pay the Rs10-lakh fine from his own pocket. The Supreme Court had recently fined the state government for the favour shown by Deshmukh to a legislator in
Vidarbha region.

Speaking to DNA after launching the campaign, Sajag Nagrik Manch (SNM) president, Vivek Velankar, said taxpayers’ money should not be used to compensate for mistakes made by public
personalities.

The petition, addressed to prime minister Manmohan Singh, states that the fine imposed by the apex court on the state government, besides the strictures passed against Deshmukh, will have to be finally borne by citizens of Maharashtra.

“We, the citizens of Maharashtra, strongly oppose this payment of fine from the Maharashtra government treasury. We strongly feel that the fine needs to be recovered from Vilasrao Deshmukh. His abusive use of power has resulted in this unwarranted fine and a precedent needs to get established that such fines should be recovered from persons because of whose misdeeds the fine was imposed,” the petition states.

It also demands that the fine be recovered from Deshmukh’s salary as MP and reimbursed to the state government.