Sharad Pawar moves Bombay HC against PIL seeking CBI probe against him for alleged irregularities in Lavasa

The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief, in his intervening application filed through advocate Joel Carlos, sought to be impleaded as a respondent in the PIL so that he could put forth his arguments against the petition.

Mumbai: NCP founder Sharad Pawar has moved the Bombay High Court against a PIL filed by an advocate seeking a CBI probe against him, his daughter Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar over alleged illegal permissions given to construct a private hill station at Lavasa in Pune district.

The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief, in his intervening application filed through advocate Joel Carlos, sought to be impleaded as a respondent in the public interest litigation (PIL) so that he could put forth his arguments against the petition.

Lawyer Nanasaheb Jadhav had last year filed the PIL seeking a direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register a case against the three and some officials of the state government over the alleged irregularities.

Senior counsel Aspi Chinoy, appearing for Sharad Pawar, on Wednesday told the court that similar and identical allegations have been made by the petitioner Jadhav time and again.

Chinoy said in 2022, the high court had dismissed a similar petition filed by Jadhav against permissions granted to the Lavasa project. Jadhav then moved the Supreme Court and the matter is pending there. In the meantime, Jadhav filed this petition here seeking a CBI probe into his complaint, Chinoy said.

"The entire premise on which the complaint is filed by the petitioner has been dealt with by the high court and disposed of. The petitioner cannot use the same facts for filing another proceeding styled as criminal public interest litigation," Pawar said in the application.

The application said Pawar needs to be impleaded as a respondent to ensure a fair disposal of the PIL as there are several allegations levelled against the senior political leader. It added that no prejudice or hardship would be caused to Jadhav if Pawar is added as a respondent in the PIL, but grave injustice would be caused to Pawar if he is not permitted to intervene in the matter.

The bench directed Jadhav to file his affidavit in response to Pawar's application within two weeks and said it would hear the matter further after four weeks.

In February 2022, the high court had refused to interfere in the earlier petition filed by Jadhav seeking to declare the special permissions granted to the Lavasa project as illegal but had noted that there seemed to be exertion of influence and clout by Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule in the project. Jadhav later moved the apex court against this judgment.

In the fresh PIL filed in 2023 seeking a CBI probe, Jadhav said he had filed a complaint with the Pune police commissioner in December 2018 seeking a probe against Pawar and others in connection with the project but the police did not take any action.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founded by the veteran leader in 1999 split last year after his nephew Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.