Court orders probe against Solanki

Earlier,Maradia had filed a petition in the High Court,which eventually resulted in the Governor granting sanction to prosecute Solanki last month. The minister has since challenged in HC the Governor’s decision to grant the sanction on factual and constitutional grounds.

Following Maradia’s first petition in the High Court,the state government was forced to cancel the fishing contracts. Later,Maradia moved another petition for getting sanction from the state government to prosecute Solanki under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The state government refused to grant the sanction and sent the matter to the Governor.

However,hearing another petition related to the issue,HC ruled that the Governor was the final authority to take a final decision on the application to grant or deny sanction. The Governor had then overruled the state government’s recommendation and granted sanction to prosecute Solanki.

The hearing on Solanki’s petition challenging the HC order is yet to take place.

Maradia’s lawyer at HC,who was present at the Gandhinagar court on Friday,said,“The court of judge G K Upadhyay ordered the inquiry under the provisions of Section 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Next hearing on the complaint has been posted for October 6.”