MUMBAI: A special court on Thursday discharged state minister and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal and others in the 2015 Kalina land scam case.This was the last case pending against Bhujbal before the special court after he was previously granted relief in proceedings related to allegations of kickbacks and financial siphoning linked to the construction of the Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi and a housing project in Navi Mumbai.In 2015, the ACB registered a case against Bhujbal and others for irregularities in allotment of a prime piece of land in Kalina to a leading developer for construction of a library. Bhujbal, then PWD minister, and others were accused of misusing their official position for personal gains under the Prevention of Corruption Act and cheating and forgery under sections of the Indian Penal Code. The chargesheet said that as part of the pre-arranged plan, the accused deceived the state government and caused a total loss of around Rs 79 crore by preparing a false proposal-cum-feasibility report beneficial to India Bulls Real Estate Ltd.Two accused, Anilkumar Gaikwad, then PWD superintending engineer and Sanjay Solanki, then PWD undersecretary, were discharged from the case in February 2021. The court had then held that the duo did not have any intention to commit an offence with their superiors. It said that at most, it can be said that there may be some negligence or gross negligence on their part while discharging thier duties particularly in respect to the proposal-cum-feasiblity report.
