Forced relations — HC pulls up ZP peon

MUMBAI, August 13: Sambhaji Nivrutti Patil, a peon in the Kolhapur Zilla Parishad office, could not have paid a worse tribute to the memo...

MUMBAI, August 13: Sambhaji Nivrutti Patil, a peon in the Kolhapur Zilla Parishad office, could not have paid a worse tribute to the memory of Indian freedom fighters in the golden jubilee year of the country’s Independence. The Bombay High Court recently reprimanded him for falsely claiming blood relation with a freedom fighter to secure a job.

The division bench of Justice Ashok Agarwal and Justice S S Nijjar ordered Patil to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 to Kolhapur Zilla Parishad within four weeks of issuing its directive, failing which the money would be recovered as arrears from the land revenue department. The judges condemned Patil’s attempt to cheat the authorities by forging documents and dismissed the petition challenging his termination of services.

The bench stated, “This would have been a fit case to order prosecution of the petitioner. However, we find that the ends of justice would be met in directing heavy costs to be paid by the petitioner Patil.”

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Patil was appointed peon in 1990. Claimingto be the blood relation of freedom fighter Narayan A Patekar, he sought the job as part of the benefits given to blood relations of freedom fighters. Four years later, the district collector of Kolhapur informed the ZP about Patil’s false claim. After an inquiry revealed the fraud committed, Patil’s services along with some of his colleagues’ were terminated.

Even as the matter reached the high court, the ZP was ordered to determine if the individual claims of blood relations were genuine. Meanwhile, Patil too moved the high court claiming that deputy chief executive officer and legal cell officer of the ZP cheated him by recording a wrong statement claiming no relation with the freedom fighter.

Patil also alleged that he was asked to sit outside the officer’s cabin when the statement was being drafted and he was later called in and made to sign the documents. The dismissed peon stated that it was much later that he realised the statement was contrary to his earlier claim to relation.

However, thedivision bench has ruled that “we find no earthly reason why the officers should record a false statement to the detriment of the petitioner.”

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Moreover, the affidavit filed by the petitioner against the officers was totally fabricated. As per the ZP affidavit, one of the officers who was alleged to have recorded Patil’s false statement was not even working in the office at that point of time.