If handled properly, the Pune land scam may put an end to revenue minister Eknath Khadse's political career .The way skeletons of this scam are tumbling out of governments cupboard , it appears that khadse has violated the oath of office and secrecy and is guilty of disloyalty to the government and conflict of interest.
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| Photo courtsey www.bamulahija.blogspot.com |
Violation oath of office and secrecy
All ministers while taking the office of oath solemnly affirm allegiance to the Constitution of India , faithful and conscientious discharge duties as a Minister and to do right to all people in accordance with the Constitution and the law without fear or favor, affection or ill-will.
They also affirm that they will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person or persons any matter which shall be brought under their consideration or shall become known to them ,except as may be required for the due discharge of duties as such Minister
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| Photo courtsey www.behance.net |
Khadse has violated both the oaths , He was always allegiant to his family only and not to the constitution of India. He didn't discharge his duties faithfully ,he always favored family only. Be it chairpersonship of Mahanand dairy an apex federation of district and taluka milk unions , or be it his daughter in laws Membership to the house of parliament. The consciously saw that his family was being favored and public money would go to them only.
Khadse's ill-will was prominently established when it was surfaced that he had called a meeting after initial payment for the purchase of the three-acre land in Bhosari, Khadse held a meeting where he ordered that the landowner should be compensated as per the enhanced rates under the new Land Act .In this meeting, he kept all the official in dark about his direct involvement in that deal.
Khadse also violated the oath of secrecy . He not only communicated about the land in Bhosari to his family but also saw that the original owner if at all compensated will get peanuts and the major chunk of the money will go to his family.
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| photo courtsey www.dnaindia.com |
Disloyalty to the government
As guardian of government lands in Maharashtra, it was Eknath Khadse's duty to protect the interest of the Government and not to allow anybody to grab the compensation or land under the garb of sundry excuses. This act itself shows that he was not loyal to the Government. In this case, Khadse was interested in compensation to be given as per new law in 2013 for the land lat has been acquired almost 40 years back. If the government accepts to pay compensation as per new law for the lands that are acquired long back, it will make government insolvent. because there hundred of such cases where land is acquired but nobody has either accepted compensation or even nobody was either aware of such compensation.
Conflict of interest.
The purchase of 1.61 hectares of land in Bhosari by relatives of Khadse was a clear case of conflict of interest and trading of favours. On face though it appears that the deal was technically legal but actually it was not legal. The land belongs to MIDC, which issued a notification in 1962 and acquired it after paying compensation to its owner, Abbas Rasulbhai Ukani. After purchasing the land from Ukani, the MIDC has leased out it in smaller plots to various industrial units for 99 years.
In Itar Adhikar column of this land, MIDC's name is there . ITAR ADHIKAR (Other rights)on land is an important column to be carefully looked for when identifying the extract. It may consist of several other statutory or general obligations on land such as restriction on land transfer or liabilities on the holder or encumbrances on land or other rights attached to the land. Entries in this column can completely make the transaction invalid if overlooked. But who cares when the deal is related to Revenue Ministers relatives. Khadse's involvement, in this case, was not for the help of Ukani but to grab the benefits of this deal for his own fan family . And that is nothing but a conflict of interest.
All the three things mentioned above make Revenue Minister khadse disqualified under the representation of peoples act. And if it happens , that will be the full stop to his political career.
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