Pune: Union Science and Technology Minister
Vilasrao Deshmukh on Saturday rejected BJP`s demand for his
resignation in the wake of adverse remarks by the Supreme
Court in connection with land allotment to filmmaker Subhash
Ghai`s "Whistling Woods" in Mumbai.
"That is the job of the Opposition which it is doing," he
quipped when asked to comment by reporters on the sidelines of
a function here.
When his attention was drawn to the reported comments by
Ghai that he was "cheated" by the state government on the
issue, Deshmukh replied, "It is his version".
He maintained that all decisions were taken in keeping
with the land disposal policy of the state government.
The Supreme Court recently dismissed the appeal filed by
Ghai-owned Mukta Arts against a Bombay High Court judgement
cancelling the Deshmukh government`s decision to allot land at
Film City to the filmmaker`s company.
The high court in its order on February 9 had called
Deshmukh`s role in the transaction as "deprecable".
Meanwhile, on the leaked Comptroller and Auditor General
(CAG) report in which his name figures along with other
Maharashtra ministers in respect of alleged irregularities in
land allotments in the state, Deshmukh said he would make
comment only after the report is tabled in the House on April
16.
"It was not for the first time that a CAG report is
submitted... As per the procedure it would go to the Public
Accounts Committee for corrective measures if necessary," he
added.
PTI
