Bombay High Court junks plea against Hema Malini

The Bombay high court has given relief to actress and BJP MP Hema Malini in the Oshiwara land deal case. Disposing of the petition alleging that Malini got a state government plot measuring 2,000 square metre at Oshiwara for a paltry Rs 70,000, the court has stated that the actress has already refused to accept the land.

The PIL had claimed that the said land parcel would have otherwise fetched several crores of rupees in the market.

A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice S.M. Sonak was hearing the petition filed by Ketan Tirodkar who sought direction from the court to police to file a case of cheating and forgery against Malini and former Maharashtra revenue minister Eknath Khadse for alleged illegal allotment of city land to the actress for her dance academy at a nominal price.

Earlier, another bench of the court expressed the view that instead of seeking criminal action against Malini and the authorities, Mr Tirodkar could file a civil plea to challenge the state government’s decision to allot land. Mr Tirodkar’s PIL stated that there were a series of judgments of the high court and Supreme Court stating that public property could not be allotted by the state without issuing advertisement inviting applications from needy people.

On Friday, the state government informed the court that Malini herself had refused to accept the land and if that was the case, how could the PIL stand for hearing. The state government further requested the court to dispose of Mr Tirodkar’s petition. When Mr Tirodkar’s lawyer raised a question as to what if Malini, in future, accepted the said land, the court told him that he had the option at that time to approach the high court.