A special court acquitted NCP leader and Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal in the Maharashtra Sadan case being probed by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau on Thursday, 9 September.
Bhujbal's son Pankaj, nephew Sameer and five others were also given a clean chit in the matter.
In a petition filed through lawyers Sajal Yadav and Sudarshan Khawase, the minister had contended that during his tenure as deputy chief minister and the state minister of Public Works Department (PWD), there was no evidence of any irregularities or corruption by him.
After his acquittal on Thursday, Bhujbal stated, "While conspiring against me and my family on behalf of some people, I was deliberately implicated. In which, me and my nephew also had to go to jail for two years. But today, I don't want to keep hatred in my mind. Truth can be troubled, not defeated."
In 2015, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had filed a case against Bhujbal and 16 others, alleging that a developer firm was benefitted for a project on a plot of land belonging to the Regional Transport Office (RTO). Bhujbal was the PWD minister from 2004 to 2014.
It was claimed that the project was handed over to the developer in exchange for the construction of Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi and RTO building at Taddeo in Mumbai.
Last month, the people associated with the firm, KS Chamankar Enterprises, were acquitted by the court.
However, as per Bhujbal, all the allegations were founded on ‘wrong calculations’ and the government suffered no loss in the process.
A case filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the matter is still pending, The Indian Express reported.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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