Ranjit Patil ‘misused’ office to back ‘illegal’ food court: Bombay High Court directs home minister, state govt to file affidavits

Ranjit Patil, Minister of State for Home (Urban), Maharashtra (Express Archive)

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed State Home Minister Ranjit Patil and the state government to file affidavits with regard to allegations that Patil misused his office to protect an unauthorised food court in the Bandra Kurla Complex in the city. A division bench of Justice R M Savant and Justice Sadhana Jadhav granted Patil and the state time till August 7 to do so.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by activist Pravin Wategaonkar alleging that Patil had stayed the demolition of illegal portions of a food court in BKC even though the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act did not have provisions for granting such a stay. The plea claimed that the eatery is managed by the kin of a principal secretary currently serving in the Maharashtra government and Patil had misused his powers and stayed the demolition.