Solanki’s prosecution: Governor’s office gets High Court notice

When the petition came up for hearing today before a single-judge bench,Solanki’s counsel Prakash Thakkar argued on the merits of the case. After a short hearing,the court issued notices to the Governor’s private secretary,government and Ishaq Maradia — who had sought permission to prosecute Solanki — so that they can submit in writing their reply to the petition.

During the hearing,the court directed Thakkar to delete certain portion of the petition in which the petitioner had leveled serious allegations against Beniwal. The court observed that the petitioner may allege that the Governor was biased but,some dignity was required to be maintained for the high office of the Governor. Thakkar agreed to carry out the amendment to the petition to that extent.

In his arguments,Thakkar said under the statutory provisions,the Governor while taking a decision on granting or denying sanction for criminal prosecution of a minister is required to consider only the material put before her. The Governor was also required to act independently,he added. However,in the instance case,she not only took help of her secretary,but also took a report by the secretary on record while taking a decision.

Further hearing has been posted for August 14. She had granted sanction to prosecute Solanki while acting on an application by Maradia, who has alleged that Solanki had taken bribe from the persons who were granted fishing contracts while completely ignoring the procedure earmarked for the same like floating tenders.