Another scam? Maha Opposition demands Minister Abdul Sattar be sacked

Nagpur, Dec 26 (IANS) In what is alleged as another land scam, the Maharashtra opposition on Monday vociferously demanded the resignation of Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar - recently in the limelight for the slur on NCP MP Supriya Sule.

The opposition clamour came after the Bombay High Court made certain observations against Abdul Sattar for ordering the "regularisation" of a 37-acre plot reserved for cattle-grazing (`gairan`) in Washim, ostensibly to favour a private individual despite a civil court order to the contrary.

Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar said that when Abdul Sattar was the MoS for Revenue in the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime, he had passed the order though knowing fully well that the Additional District Judge, Washim, had overruled the claim of the private party for continued possession of the land in April 1994.

"It`s a scam worth Rs 150 crore and therefore Sattar should be forthwith dismissed from the cabinet," demanded Pawar as other opposition legislators joined in.

The opposition also asked the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis to oust Abdul Sattar for asking the Agriculture Department to collect "huge funds" for organising an agro-fair in his constituency, Sillod in Aurangabad.

Earlier, Pawar had submitted an adjournment motion on this issue which was rejected but Speaker Rahul Narwekar permitted him to speak on the matter.

Senior NCP leader Dilip Walse-Patil referred to a Supreme Court verdict pertaining to such `gairan` lands and said that a criminal case should be lodged against the Minister for the lapse.

Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan sought Abdul Sattar`s removal from the post till the high court gave him a clean chit, with the case scheduled for hearing on January 11.

Fadnavis replied that the government will examine the high court order and then take the appropriate action, and on the allegation of fund collection for the agro-fair, assured that nobody would be spared for any wrongdoings.

As the issue led to a heated exchange, the Speaker adjourned the house for an hour this afternoon.

Recently, the high court stayed Abdul Sattar`s order in favour of Yogesh Khandare following a plea filed by two petitioners, Shyam Deole and Umesh Pophale, who contended that the Minister had regularised the flouting the Washim court`s order rejecting the claim earlier.

(The above article is sourced from news agency IANS. Zeenews.com has made no editorial changes to the article. News agency IANS is solely responsible for the contents of the article)