MUMBAI: The appointment of a scam-tainted official as a member on the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) has raised quite a few eyebrows.
Sanjay Kulkarni, a former executive director of the North Maharashtra Irrigation Development Corporation, is among the several high-ranking irrigation officials, whose name has cropped up in the multi-crore irrigation scam relating to alleged corruption in awarding contracts and other irregularities between 1999 and 2014 during the Congress-NCP rule.
Water resources minister Jayant Patil said he was not sure if Kulkarni is an accused in the scam. However, Kulkarni himself admitted he is among the nearly 100 senior officials of the irrigation department who are under scrutiny, while the anti-corruption bureau confirmed that an FIR has been registered against senior irrigation officials, including Kulkarni.
The state government had set up a high-level committee headed by chief secretary Sanjay Kumar to scrutinize the list of applicants for the post of member, MWRRA. The list of shortlisted candidates was submitted to the Raj Bhavan, which approved Kulkarni’s name. “We have followed due process for appointment of the member,” Patil said, while Kulkarni too said his appointment was in accordance with the provisions of the law. Patil administered the oath to Kulkarni at a brief ceremony in Mantralaya.
Two months after Devendra Fadnavis took over the reins of the state in 2014, he had granted permission to the ACB to conduct an open inquiry in the irrigation scam, particularly against NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare, who held the water resources portfolio between 2001 and 2014. In 2018, the ACB director general had directed a probe into the Mahagaon irrigation project in Yavatmal. A special investigation team subsequently registered a case alleging irregularities in the project. “An offence was registered against a large number of officials, including Kulkarni. Investigation is in progress, but no chargesheet has been filed in the case,” a senior ACB official said.
The ACB has filed over half a dozen FIRs in Thane, Nagpur and Amravati, but it has not been able to book a single politician. “In 2014, the irrigation scam was the poll plank of the BJP, but so far only officials of the water resources department have been booked. Responsibility has not been fixed on any politician,” a senior official said.
Sanjay Kulkarni, a former executive director of the North Maharashtra Irrigation Development Corporation, is among the several high-ranking irrigation officials, whose name has cropped up in the multi-crore irrigation scam relating to alleged corruption in awarding contracts and other irregularities between 1999 and 2014 during the Congress-NCP rule.
Water resources minister Jayant Patil said he was not sure if Kulkarni is an accused in the scam. However, Kulkarni himself admitted he is among the nearly 100 senior officials of the irrigation department who are under scrutiny, while the anti-corruption bureau confirmed that an FIR has been registered against senior irrigation officials, including Kulkarni.
The state government had set up a high-level committee headed by chief secretary Sanjay Kumar to scrutinize the list of applicants for the post of member, MWRRA. The list of shortlisted candidates was submitted to the Raj Bhavan, which approved Kulkarni’s name. “We have followed due process for appointment of the member,” Patil said, while Kulkarni too said his appointment was in accordance with the provisions of the law. Patil administered the oath to Kulkarni at a brief ceremony in Mantralaya.
Two months after Devendra Fadnavis took over the reins of the state in 2014, he had granted permission to the ACB to conduct an open inquiry in the irrigation scam, particularly against NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare, who held the water resources portfolio between 2001 and 2014. In 2018, the ACB director general had directed a probe into the Mahagaon irrigation project in Yavatmal. A special investigation team subsequently registered a case alleging irregularities in the project. “An offence was registered against a large number of officials, including Kulkarni. Investigation is in progress, but no chargesheet has been filed in the case,” a senior ACB official said.
The ACB has filed over half a dozen FIRs in Thane, Nagpur and Amravati, but it has not been able to book a single politician. “In 2014, the irrigation scam was the poll plank of the BJP, but so far only officials of the water resources department have been booked. Responsibility has not been fixed on any politician,” a senior official said.