In the Congress-led UPA government, the sun of good fortune never sets on a loyalist. Perhaps, that’s why the Manmohan Singh government doesn’t even blink when its blue-eyed boy, the science and technology minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh gets raps on the knuckle from all around.
On Wednesday, the former Maharashtra chief minister was pulled up by the supreme court as well as the comptroller and auditor general. The apex court pulled him up for giving 20 acres of land to producer Subhash Ghai in 2004 for his film institute. The court said he (Deshmukh) cannot treat anyone as a “blue-eyed boy” and bend or bypass rules. The sharp observations came from a bench of justices HL Dattu and CK Prasad while upholding the Bombay high court order quashing the 20 acre land allotted to Ghai’s film institute in Film City in 2004 when Deshmukh was the chief minister. The high court had said that the then chief minister had misused his position to allot 20 acres at Film City, Goregaon, to Ghai’s promoted company for Rs 3 crore, though it was worth over Rs 66 crore, to further his actor son Riteish Deshmukh’s career.
On the same day (Wednesday), a leaked report of the CAG implicating 10 ministers from Maharashtra, including former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, created a ruckus in the Maharashtra assembly. The report alleges irregularities by the ministers while dealing with government properties to safeguard personal interests. One such deal involved the Manjara Charitable Trust which has Deshmukh’s backing. The trust was allegedly allotted land measuring 23,840 sqmt at Malvani, Borivli, in 2006 to set up a dental college. The report says the land was not used for four years and the trust in 2010 applied to use the plot for educational purposes. Since there was no clarity on the time period for which the land was allotted, the collector could not terminate the agreement, resulting in a loss of revenue to the government. The trust retained the land by paying just Rs 6.56 crore against its market price of Rs 30.56 crore. Besides, Manjara was allotted land by rejecting three other applications. The reason for refusing them was not disclosed.
But Wednesday was not a particularly bad day for the Deshmukh. He has had many in his long and besmirched political career.
On December 14, 2010, the supreme court had imposed a Rs 10 lakh fine on the Maharashtra government on a complaint that the then CM, Vilasrao Deshmukh, had influenced the police against registering an FIR against Congress MLA Dilip Sananda. A bench of justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly rapped Deskmukh, saying, “The (former) chief minister should not have interfered with the criminal justice system.” The apex court passed the order while dismissing the Maharashtra government’s appeal challenging imposition of Rs 25,000 as fine on it earlier by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court on a petition by Buldhana district's farmers alleging that the police refused to register a criminal case against Dilip Sananda under the Money Lending Act. It was alleged that Deshmukh’s personal secretary Amba Das had called up the then district superintendent of police to inform that the chief minister did not want any FIR to be registered in the case.
The CBI is investigating his role in the Adarsh society scam. His statement has already been recorded wherein he made the sensational disclosure that he had bent rules to give memberships to former army chiefs Gen Deepak Kapoor and Gen NC Vij in the controversial Adarsh housing society. In an affidavit filed before the two-member inquiry panel, Deshmukh said, “I approved the proposal to relax the domicile norms/conditions in case of Generals Vij and Kapoor. This decision was fully justified and fitting, considering their eminence and their distinguished service to the nation.”
That’s not all.
In January 2011, in a cabinet reshuffle, Deshmukh was shifted from heavy industries to rural development, where he would have to deal with the well-being of the same rural people he allowed to be exploited as the CM. SC judge justice AK Ganguly, in Mumbai to address lawyer-activists in Feburary 2011, had called Deshmukh’s shift to rural development ministry a “shameless act”. He had added that it was “sad and shocking to see how the government allows and appreciates such ministers. Not only that, (it) also gives them a cabinet post. It is not a dignified act. I would call it a shameless act”.
The “shameless act” continues. Deshmukh is now the science and technology minister. Despite flak from all sides, he continues to be in the union ministry. Given his checkered political career, Wednesday’s flak from the CAG and SC is nothing more than routine for the former Maharashtra CM. And as far as the PM is concerned, it’s common knowledge by now that he doesn’t blink. Does he?
