Mumbai: In the backdrop of the Centre’s move to introduce a benami property Act, the Congress has demanded that a case should first be registered against Maharashtra cooperatives minister Subhash Deshmukh, who came under the scanner after cash worth Rs 91 lakh was seized in old currency from a private vehicle owned by the Lok Mangal group of Solapur, an NGO that Mr Deshmukh owns.
“Mr Deshmukh should be sacked from the cabinet and booked under the proposed benami property Act. The cash found in his car was black money in old currency that has been banned now,” said Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant. His demand came after a flying squad of election officials seized the Rs 91 lakh in banned cash last Wednesday at Lohara in Osmanabad district.
“The cash that was seized was in old denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. The minister’s explanation on the matter is also misleading. He said that the cash was meant for labourers who cut sugarcane. However, the Lok Mangal credit society has nothing to do with the labourers,” Mr Sawant said.
The Congress also questioned why the inquiry into the matter has been given to the cooperative department only. “The minister’s own department is conducting a probe in the matter. How do we expect an unbiased probe? How will a junior officer of the cooperative department conduct an inquiry against his own minister?” Mr Sawant asked.
The multi-state Lok Mangal Cooperative Credit Society is a known cooperative sector in Western Maharashtra and Mr Deshmukh is its founder chairman. The group has a cooperative bank that has several branches in the region. Initially, Mr Deshmukh had denied any link with the money seized. However, he later changed his stand and said that the money is accounted for and he has documents to prove it.
