Lokayukta gives clean chit to Khadse in PA bribery case

Maharashtra Lokayukta Justice (Retd) M L Tahaliyani has given a clean chit to former Maharashtra Minister Eknath Khadse in the bribery case involving his ‘personal assistant’ Gajanan Patil and closed a complaint in the matter.

The clean chit came a week before Khadse resigned from the BJP-led ministry in the wake of a series of charges, including alleged irregularity in buying an MIDC plot at Bhosari in Pune.  The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested Patil from outside the state secretariat gate last month for allegedly demanding a Rs 30-crore bribe from Mumbai-based entrepreneur Ramesh Jadhav in a land allotment matter.

The Lokayukta heard the complainant and senior ACB officials on May 27, before passing the order the same day. "At least 12 recordings of the conversation between the complainant (Jadhav) and Gajanan Patil were made," the Lokayukta report said.