Bhujbal says that norms were followed in the Maharashtra Sadan and Kalina land case and he possesses all documents to prove his innocence.
Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhu-jbal who returned to Mumbai from his US trip said that the allegations made against him in the Maharashtra Sadan and Kalina land case are baseless. Defending himself Bhujbal said that no corruption has occurred in these deals and he posse-sses all documents to prove his inno-cence. Bhujbal added that some rules have to be followed while clearing the files pertaining to developmental process. The files have to pass through various departments and then the respective minister has to clear it. Finally the Chief Minister signs after scrutinising every detail mentioned in the document.
Speaking about his US tour Bhujbal said, “When I visited US, people had said that I have escaped from India. I had gone to Washington DC for participating in a three day event organised by the US Congress. The function was attended by senior US Senators, Diplomats, high ranking officials and members of US Judiciary & Administration as well as select representatives invited from 140 countries all over the world.”
“Before going to US, I had a meeting with Sharad Pawar and he had asked me to attend the function. I have the support of Pawar saheb so I don’t have to worry anything. I participated in various events. If I had to escape then why should I stay for so many days overseas?” he asked.
Bhujbal said that rules were not flouted while inviting the tender for Maharashtra Sadan. He said, “The Maharashtra Sadan was built on a B-O-T basis under the chairmanship of an Infra-structure committee headed by the chief minister. The decision was taken after a lot of discussion. It takes three years to clear a proposal as the file has to go through various departments for scrutiny.”
“There is no case of money laundering involved in this project. The ACB had questioned me several times for six months and we have provided them all the documents. I am cooperating with them and will continue to do so in future. But it will take time for us to provide the documents pertaining to the last 15 years,” added Bhujbal.
Bhujbal expressed his displeasure over the arrest of his nephew Sameer and said, “What is the point in arresting Sameer as officials could have called for a probe first. Kirit Somaiya has made false allegations against me. The government is targeting me and Ashok Chavan to settle political scores.”
The ED had registered two Economic Case Information Reports (ECIR) against Bhujbal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Another case was registered by Navi Mumbai police concerning a housing project scam wherein Rs. 44 crores were collected from over 2,000 people for houses in a project ‘Hex World’, promoted by a realty firm owned by the Bhujbal family.
The ACB had in June last year registered two FIRs against Bhujbal. The first one was related to alleged irregularities in allotment of a prime plot at Kalina in Mumbai to a developer. The second case was for alleged rampant corruption and large-scale irregularities in the construction of the new Maharashtra Sadan, the state government’s guest house in Delhi.
The Public Works Department (PWD) under Bhujbal had then allegedly awarded sub-contracts to firms, in blatant violation of rules, in the Maharashtra Sadan case. The FIR named him, his son Pankaj, nephew Sameer and 14 others. The new Maharashtra Sadan was built at the cost of Rs. 100 crores when the Congress-NCP coalition was in power in Maharashtra.
