The Gujarat High Court on Thursday dismissed the petition of fisheries minister Purushottam Solanki challenging Governor Kamla Beniwals decision to sanction his prosecution in an alleged Rs 400-crore fishing contracts scam. Rejecting the plea,a bench of Justice Rajesh H Shukla said the power exercised by Beniwal was not alien to her as claimed by the minister. Solanki and the state government had argued that in a parliamentary system,the Council of Ministers is the real executive,not the Governor,who had acted contrary to the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers,which is alien to the Constitution. The court,however,was not convinced: If,in cases where prima facie case is clearly made out,sanction to prosecute high functionaries is refused or withheld,democracy itself will be at stake. It would lead to a situation where people in power may break the law with impunity,safe in the knowledge they will not be prosecuted as the requisite sanction will not be granted. With polls only a couple of months away,the decision has come as a setback to the Narendra Modi government,which had supported to Solanki. In 2008,trader Ishaq Maradia had moved the HC,accusing Solanki of granting fishing contracts without following due tendering process,and thereby,causing Rs 400 crore loss to Gujarat in the last decade. A year later,the court scrapped all the contracts awarded by Solanki. The court had also told the Governor to decide on the ministers prosecution in consultation with the government. However,the Cabinet allegedly didnt sanction his prosecution earlier this year. Maradia then moved the court again,seeking contempt of court proceedings against the government,including the chief minister,alleging they ignored the Governor while deciding not to take action against Solanki. In July,the court ordered the government to send the report of its cabinet meeting with regard to prosecuting Solanki to the Governors office. The Governor then granted the sanction for his prosecution.
