Cabinet shackles Gavit prosecution

Deputy CM Ajit Pawar opposed sanction to prosecute Gavit and he was backed by the cabinet of Congress and NCP ministers.

A senior Congress minister said,“Frankly speaking,nobody wanted the government to pursue the case. It was feared that sanctioning prosecution of Gavit would raise demands from various quarters to process cases against others being probed by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) and CBI.”

Gavit hails from the tribal-dominated district of Nandurbar in north Maharashtra. The four-time MLA is accused of misappropriating funds allocated for various centrally funded schemes,including Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana of which he was chairman in the district.

Nandurbar tehsildar Rahul Patil had alleged that 747 beneficiaries of the scheme were found to be bogus.

Gavit said he was only the chairman of the scheme and could not check credentials of each and every applicant.

A PIL was filed in Bombay High Court in 2012 seeking government action against Gavit. The court issued a notice to the state asking why ACB was not allowed to investigate Gavit. The matter was referred to ACB.

Last month,the general administration department sought opinion of the governor. But the governor returned the file asking the cabinet to take a formal view in the matter.

Funds to ineligible?

Tribal leader Vijaykumar Gavit was chairman of three centrally sponsored schemes in Nandurbar district during 1998-2000. He is accused of releasing funds to ineligible people denying tribals and the poor. Gavit is facing criminal charges with 22 employees of the departments of public health and revenue.