The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court ordered status quo on a decision taken by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde when he was a Minister in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to allot land meant for slum dwellers to private persons.
On December 14, a Division Bench of Justices Sunil Shukre and MW Chandwani was informed by amicus curiae Anand Parchure that Mr. Shinde has ordered the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) to execute a lease and allot the land acquired for a housing scheme for slum dwellers to 16 persons during his tenure as the Urban Development Minister earlier. He claimed that there are news items that reveal this and said if they were true, there is a possibility of the State government interfering with the administration of justice when this very issue is pending before this court.
The court said: “If any order of regularisation as claimed by the newspapers is really passed, then we would direct the authorities to maintain status quo as of the date in respect of the issue of regularisation till next date” and posted the matter to January 4, 2023.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties demanded the Chief Minister’s resignation over the issue. Slogans like ‘ 50 Khoke Ekdum Okay’ and ‘ Gujarat la Volkswagen aani Maharashtra la popcorn’, were raised against the Shinde-Fadnavis government, and the ruling party too raised slogans against the MVA. Following the arguments, Maharashtra Legislative Council proceedings were adjourned for the day.
Later in the day, Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly, Ajit Pawar, Congress leaders Nana Patole, Prithiviraj Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat, and Shiv Sena’s legislator Aditya Thackeray and other leaders staged demonstrations in the legislature complex accusing the government of being corrupt.
