A special anti-corruption bureau court on Wednesday issued production warrant against former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer Bhujbal in connection with the Maharashtra Sada
A special anti-corruption bureau court on Wednesday issued production warrant against former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer Bhujbal in connection with the Maharashtra Sadan scam case.
Special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said the court has issued production warrant and has asked the authorities to produce them on June 22.
The court issued the production warrant almost four months after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) filed a 20,000-page chargesheet naming 17 persons, including the Bhujbals.
Though the advocate Mr Gharat had requested the court to issue a non-bailable warrant against Bhujbal’s son Pankaj, he failed to appear before the court. However the lawyer, appearing on behalf of Pankaj, assured the court that he would remain present in the court on the next date of hearing.
The prosecution case is that to construct Maharashtra Sadan, contractors Chamankars Associates had allegedly transferred money to Niche Infrastructure and other companies in which Pankaj and Sameer were directors. The chargesheet said that most of the companies floated by the Bhujbals are in the name of employees and used for siphoning off funds. Niche was earlier owned by some employees of Maharashtra Educational Trust in which the Bhujbals later became directors.
The ACB has further said while Rs 45 crore was the original cost of Maharashtra Sadan it was later shown as Rs 50 crore. The ACB official also said Rs 13.5 crore is the total amount that Mr Bhujbal got as kickback allegedly from Chamankars.
The ACB had said that Rs 190 crore was the approximate profit that Chamankars got from Maharashtra Sadan and other works while the money were transferred to Niche by Chamankars after getting the project and the money ultimately, landed up with Sameer and Pankaj.
The prosecution has claimed that in the construction of Maharashtra Sadan, contractors earned 80 per cent profits while as per the government circular they are entitled to only 20 per cent gains.
