HC notice to ACB for failing to book Mhada bureaucrats

Mumbai: The Bombay high court issued notices to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) along with the Mumbai commissioner of police Datta Padsalgikar after a public interest litigation (PIL) alleged that ACB failed to register a first information report (FIR) against two Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) bureaucrats, namely Mhada chief S.S. Zende and chief of Mhada’s redevelopment board Sumant Bhange, and their predecessors who allegedly failed to acquire 30 lakh square feet of saleable area across the city as housing stock from private builders.

A division bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice P.R. Bora while hearing the petition of Kamlakar Shenoy asked the ACB chief and commissioner of Mumbai police to file their reply by the next hearing on March 14, 2017.

The petitioner alleged that despite of the fact that information was provided by him against the “wrongdoings”, no cognisance was taken and the officers are being shielded. Mr Shenoy also requested the court to direct the authorities to file an FIR in respect to the complaint registered by him.

Mr Shenoy alleged, “The ACB sought the housing department’s opinion in 2016 instead of prosecuting the culprits. The economic offences wing (EOW) had transferred the case to ACB citing that the case came under its jurisdiction. I have been complaining about the same from several years to all authorities but everyone failed to act and thus I approached the high court.”

Attempts to get the comments of ACB chief Vivek Phansalkar, Mr Padsalgikar, Mr Zende and Mr Bhange were unsuccessful.