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Maharashtra CM to file Rs 1 billion defamation suit against BJP spokesman

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Wednesday announced that he would file a civil and criminal defamation suit against state Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Atul Bhatkhalkar who had alleged that Deshmukh was involved in a Rs 500 million land scam near Pune.

A few weeks ago, BJP spokesman Atul Bhatkhalkar had alleged that the chief minister had siphoned off Rs 500 million while de-zoning agricultural land around Belawadi area near Pune and permitting its development for commercial and residential purposes. Deshmukh has denied the allegations.

Speaking to newspersons at Mantralaya, Deshmukh stated that a notice had already been sent to the BJP. The Rs 1 billion defamation suit will be filed in the Bombay high court on September 28.

Deshmukh said senior BJP leaders informed him that it was the party stand which Bhatkhalkar was articulating and that they stood by it.

Since the scam amount was Rs 500 million, the chief minister said he was filing a Rs 1 billion defamation suit adding that the issue needed to be settled once and for all.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Chhagan Bhujbal informed that the state government has allocated necessary staff and lawyers to expedite action on the task force set up to implement the Justice Srikrishna Commission's report. The task force is expected to take six months to complete its work.

Replying to queries over news reports of the likelihood of underworld gangster Chhota Rajan coming back to India, Bhujbal said they were misleading. He said that Bombay's Commissioner of Police had approached his counterpart in Bangkok (Thailand) through Interpol and the Indian High Commission to get Rajan extradited to India.

Later Bhujbal disclosed that the state government has taken the permission of the Union government to float bonds worth Rs 500 million to develop tourism infrastructure in the state. He informed that a Palace on Wheels train similar to the one in operation in Rajasthan would be jointly operated by the Indian Railways and the state government.

Originating in Bombay, the train will take tourists to Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Goa, Pune, Ajanta-Ellora, Nashik and back to Bombay.

The tourism department is also planning to host a Bombay Shopping Festival on the lines of the Dubai and Singapore shopping festivals.

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