7 -year jail, Rs 100 crore fine for ex-minister and Shiv Sena leader Suresh Jain in housing scam
Mumbai, Aug 31: Former Maharashtra ministers Suresh Jain and Gulabrao Deokar were sentenced to jail for seven years and five years respectively by a Dhule sessions court on Saturday for their involvement in the multi-crore 'Gharkul' housing scam.
Special Judge Srushti Neelkanth also imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore on Shiv Sena leader Jain for irregularities in the Rs 29-crore housing project scam when he was state minister of home in the 1990s.
As many as 46 others, including some former municipal councillors and officials, were given jail terms between three and seven years by the court.
Soon after the court pronounced its verdict, all 48 convicts, who were present in the court, were taken into custody.
Jain was arrested in March 2012. He spent over a year in jail before securing bail from the Supreme Court.
NCP leader Deokar was arrested in May 2012. He spent three years in jail before securing bail. He was a councillor in the Jalgaon Municipal Council between 1995 and 2000.
They were accused of favouring a builder and indulging in irregularities to the tune of Rs 29 crore.
Jain had favoured Khandesh Builders, which was given a contract to build tenements under the Gharkul scheme.
Former municipal commissioner of Jalgaon, Pravin Gedam, had registered a complaint in this regard in February 2006.
Of the 5,000 houses that were to be developed on the outskirts of Jalgaon, only 1,500 were completed.
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UDF will have huge win in Kerala, NDA won't open its account: Cong leader Satheesan
Kochi (PTI): Senior Congress leader V D Satheesan on Friday expressed confidence in a huge win by the UDF, claiming it will make a clean sweep in five districts, and brushed aside speculations that the NDA will open its account in Kerala.
Satheesan, speaking to reporters here a day after the conclusion of the Assembly polls, praised the performance of the UDF leaders and workers during the election, saying it was the best ever he has seen in the last 30 years.
He said that his claims of the UDF getting over 100 seats is not a mere statement, but based on the work the front has done during the last five years to bring back all those who had left it in 2005 and as a result, there was a huge wave in its favour in the state.
The leader of opposition in the state assembly, who contested from the Paravoor constituency, further said that the Congress-led front also had a major social backing from minorities and marginalised groups in the society.
Besides that, there was an anti-incumbency feeling among the people who were disappointed with the LDF rule, he claimed and said that the UDF provided them with a hope and an alternative which no other opposition had done in the past.
"All these factors will contribute to a huge win for the UDF and it would not be surprising if we make a clean sweep in Malappuram, Wayanad, Ernakulam, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts. That is a total of 43 seats," he said.
According to him, the polling percentage increased because the UDF got people added to the electoral list.
He also brushed aside the LDF remarks about a woman or youth CM, saying that "they can make such statements now as they know they cannot win".
"Otherwise, why did they campaign with Pinarayi Vijayan as the main factor. Why did they say a third Pinarayi rule will come?" he asked.
He also claimed that the LDF's decision to spend government money on its political campaign, by putting up hoardings and carrying out social media programmes to sway voters, has also backfired as people realised that their taxes were being wasted like that.
Asked whether the NDA will open its account, especially in areas where the UDF claimed the BJP-led front had made a deal with the LDF, Satheesan replied in the negative.
He said that as of now he does not see any chance of the NDA opening its account in the state.
